Winter
by eveboo
Summary: The team faces a revengeful enemy with a personal grudge that will risk all of them. Things will just turn for the worst...
1. Chapter 1

This is my first multi chapter and Flashpoint Fanfic and like my 2nd in general. I am taking the chance because I have been watching it again because for some reason after season 2 I stopped watching (shame on me), reading fanfictions and got the inspiration.

The story takes place around season 3 but in my own universe. Lou is gone and Leah is on the team (I really liked her). Jules is with Steve and Sam is a little bit heart broken. I am a "whumper" therefore there will be some Sam Whump! Just because I believe there are not enough fanfics of it.

English is not my native language as you will notice and I have no Beta but myself, sorry for the mistakes and feel free to correct them.

I don't have any real medical or police training, my knowledge comes from all the TV I watch and the things I read therefore sorry if some things seem too much far fetch. :D

T: for some language.

Enjoy!

P.S. Yes, in my mind Flashpoint and Sam are mine, reality check Flashpoint is from CTV and Sam is a fictional character not created by me.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

There was not even a hint of sunlight when Sam crossed the doors from the SRU headquarters. It was Saturday and he was facing a 12 hours shift. Not that he was happy nor sad to be there he was just there as he had been the past days; watching Jules go out night after night with Steve the long lost High School friend, it was bad enough to work with her after she broke it off now he had to see her start a relationship with a guy that even though he tried, could not hate.

There was only the night operator in reception and the teams that covered the previous shift. They were leaving or getting ready to leave, he greet them all and went directly to the locker rooms to get ready to hit the Gym.

His usual routine had become the anchor for normality and the exercise was just a must. During his time in the military he could spend hours exercising to get rid of all the stress and occupy his mind and when he was drafted and spent those years in the dessert as a sniper his usual hyperactive self had been toned down as he had to spent even days in the same position waiting for his target; now there was a lingering need every day to clean all his mind cob webs that appeared after every restless sleep, too much to think about.

"Sam? You're here early" Jules' voice resound throughout the silent gym but Sam was lost in his reverie until Jules approached him and touched softly his shoulder "Sam?" He got startled and almost lost balance as one weight fell from his grasp and fell near his foot, his instincts made him react very quickly and avoided suffering from a rouge weight falling on his toe, she helped him steady himself as he turned around to find big brown eyes looking in terror "I am sorry I didn't think…"

"Jules its fine, it was nothing" he reassured her while giving her a smile, a smile that she only saw and loved. "What are you here so early?" he asked trying to make the awkward moment pass by as he put away the weights and cleaned up his face with a towel

"I had some paper work to finish and decided to come here early" of course she had some paper work pending, she left early the last time because she had a date with Steve, he thought, not that she will ever be careless but these little slips in her normal organized work habits were hints of the progress in Jules and Steve's relationship. He swallowed hard and repeated the same mantra in his mind, _**everything is fine, we are just friends, **_it had really not been working so far.

"Anyways, I'll go to my desk and finish it" she said with a smile as she walked out of the gym, she turned around and he stood there hands on his hips and as she walked away she couldn't help but turn around to see him standing there as he went back to his routine.

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><p>"Ok team, as the day seems to be slow I will assign the usual tasks, Spike inventory of the van system and devices, Jules and Sam clean up guns and check-up gear" they all nodded<p>

"Leah I need you to check-up and organize the gun locker, Wordy?" he interrupted the chit chat that Wordy and Ed had "Sorry boss" they said in unison "You'll be helping Leah" Ed stood there almost looking triumphant when Greg smiled

"Ed, you will be helping reviewing the team's paperwork" Ed couldn't hide his annoyance, a man who always was on the move sitting down reviewing reports but he'll do it anyways as part of his job.

Sam and Jules walked together in silence as they reached the gear "you take the gear, I'll take the guns" she sped up to say and he agreed, she loved guns even more than him or any soldier he'd met, he found that endearing. He sat there in silence going through so many possible questions to start a conversation, when had he become so impaired in socializing with women, but it wasn't any woman it was Jules.

Right when he was about to ask something, "What are you planning for your day off tomorrow?" she asked trying not to sound so interested.

"Nothing really, I might go and visit my mom or just spend the whole day in bed" did he just say that?, he face palmed in his mind and continued his task at hand.

"Sounds like you'll have a blast" she said containing her laugh and he could not help but laugh too, just by the ridiculousness of the whole situation "Yeah, make fun of me" he said in between laughs and not making eye contact with her "Do you have a better idea of what should I do?" going into his charming self, she nodded negatively and smiled at the question.

"I have a few but…" right when she was about to finish the alarm sounded and Winnie advise the team of an emergency situation in the outskirts of the city. They dropped what they were doing and the team ran to meet to be debriefed.

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><p>Bear with me I know this was slow but a lot of action is on its way and of course the promised whump! I just wanted to set up the mood and the current situation for the main characters of this story. Later chapters will be longer<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for your reviews, I was really happy to read encouraging comments. I am still a little nervous about this but excited as well.

Wanted to share that the name of this story was inspired by a comment from my sister (a new flashpoint fan) that said that in every episode they are always covered due to the cold, I guess as the show is filmed during the winter.

This chapter goes into more action, hope you like it. I will try and post almost every day but it will depend on how much time I have to write, I have a lot of the story already written.

Disclaimer: we all know the drill the show is not mine either Sam, but my imagination is completely mine as is like a rampant hoard.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

"There is a situation, a man has locked himself in a house; the suspect is Karl Trent. A witness say she heard Trent knocking on the door of the chalet in her property, she has been renting it to Amy Wakefield. The situation escalated when he shot the door and entered forcefully, there have been noises and no one has come out of the place" Greg said while he received the feed from Winnie, all the members were paying attention to the whole debacle while preparing inside the SUV's.

It was cold outside one of the worst winters in years and the team was looking forward to end this situation with best outcome possible.

After a few minutes the SUVs' and the van arrived, a lady was waiting while covering her body with a huge coat, the snow had covered all the fields and everything was white, easy terrain to start a pursuit if the suspect decided to run due to the monochromatic white any color will stand out and is difficult to run on the snow, Sam thought, already going ahead of the situation just some mental exercises that kept him sharp. As soon they parked near the drive way they all came out of the cars and gathered around Greg.

"Spike and Leah stay in the van and keep talking to Winnie, get more information on why Mr. Trent has barricaded himself in the chalet" Greg said "sure boss" Spike and Leah ran to the van.

"Ed and Jules you'll be Alpha go to the front door, I'll be lead negotiator" they both nodded. **"**Sam and Wordy you'll be bravo go around the house to the back, check for possible access if you see an opportunity let us know and hold your positions, the place is small and we do not know how close is Trent from Ms. Wakefield, he could escalate soon and try to run and instinctively he'll go to the back" they nodded and ran to the back of the SUVs' to finish gearing up.

"Mrs. Johns?" Greg asked to the lady standing there "yes?" she reacted barely looking at Greg "I am Sergeant Gregory Parker I have a few questions for you" he asked nicely "Sure" she answered nervously "What can you tell me about Amy Wakefield and her relationship with Karl Trent?"

"Not much really, she rented the chalet almost three months ago, she is a nice, quiet and polite young lady, she keeps to herself, works at the local store" she said with concern "One night she was at my house when we heard a disturbance, it was that man" she signaled with her hand pointing the chalet with disdain "I almost called the police, she argued with him and soon enough he was gone and she was left shaking, I live alone so I asked her to be the last time or that she would have to vacate, I can't allow those scenes in here" she shook her head to clear her thoughts "she then told me about how he was her ex and the reason she had left the city, she promised she'd never allow this to happen again, I didn't dig deeper because as she promised this never happened again" She sighed. "Until today"

"Team the subject had a personal relationship with Ms. Wakefield according to the landlady, he is personally involved and surely he'll be volatile" he repeated to the now positioned team "Is there a landline that works in the chalet?" Greg asked "yes, there is, I'll give you the number"

Sam was walking on the deep snow, it seemed that it was just being accumulating there and no one had cared to clean it. He was walking silently and Wordy was just behind him, there was a silence around the house and inside that was nerve racking, most of the times personal romantic grudges were messy and noisy, the subject will be ranting and screaming, hitting things, this time something was terribly wrong,

"Boss we are in the back, three windows, one too small for an adult to come out from, two big enough to present as an escape route, the windows are covered by curtains, there is no visibility to the inside" Sam whispered through his com link while signaling Wordy to take a vantage position in front of him to cover both sides of the back.

"Sam, Wordy, keep your position, we have a number and we are dialing" Greg sighed when the phone kept ringing, silence meant that maybe they were too late for any of the occupants of the chalet, the phone kept ringing and as everybody was fearing the worst someone picked up.

"LEAVE US ALONE…LEAVE OR I'LL KILL HER, I SWEAR" The silence was broken and for some reason the whole team was game again, Amy was supposedly alive and even though they could not see her, making contact with the subject was good reason enough "Karl? This Sergeant Gregory Parker with the Strategic Response Unit, we just want to make sure you and Amy are ok"

"I am fine and she is fine too…for the moment" Karl added with despair and anger in his voice "Karl, we really want to help you out here buddy, whatever happened between you and Amy is not worth it" he had received no flags from Karl, he had not even have a speeding ticket, model citizen, employee in an advertising company, very normal, there is nothing normal about this, Greg rapidly thought, he had just had a breakdown due to the breakup "I know we can solve anything if we just talk out here"

"NO! I am not leaving here without her" Greg realized he was holding on to her "Karl, are you armed? Because gunshots were heard" Greg asked to get a straight answer "Yes I have a gun" inside Karl was now pacing from one side to the other, Amy was on the floor crying silently, she was holding her arm as blood seeped from it, she was shaking and could not bear to look at him, she was truly scared "Karl buddy, is Amy ok? Is she hurt?" Greg asked as they approached the entrance, he was behind Ed who was ready to enter into action and Jules was approaching next to them

"She…I TOLD YOU, I JUST WANTED TO…" He yelled at her "I didn't want to I swear I am sorry, I didn't want to hurt her" Greg's heart jumped "Karl if you tell me what you want I am sure we can try and help you, but I need to know that Amy is ok, if she is hurt she might need help and I have the ambulance and paramedics here for her"

"You don't understand, NO ONE UNDERSTANDS!" he yelled and Ed whispered that he was escalating, they didn't know how bad Amy was hurt and Karl was not making any progress in sounding coherent "I wanted to be with her, I wanted for her to know that I wouldn't let her alone, she is afraid and lonely" Karl said, the way he said it there was a protective tone to it, Greg asked Spike to dig in deeper on Amy's life, the results have not brought anything of concern but there was something deeper than a lover quarrel.

"Karl, I know you want to protect her, tell me about her, why she needs protection, maybe I can help you with it"

"She is innocent…she is just…"

"Boss?" Spike talked "It was well hidden, I don't know how I couldn't find it before, Amy Wakefield has a daughter, she is 6 years old, her name is Carly, she didn't appear in the first search because she appears as Amy Scott"

"Karl, I know you care for Carly" Greg said

"How do you….?" Karl asked, confusion clouding his senses, Amy turned to see him he had turned around and was not watching her now, she saw her chance to leave, and she saw the window and prepared to run.

"It's my job Karl, to know why, but this thing you are doing won't help Carly, it won't allow you to protect her" Greg added "Is she inside the house?" he asked with honest concern

"NO!, Amy won't tell me where she is, she doesn't know how to care for her, and she just doesn't…"

"I get it buddy, you want to assure her safety, get it, but if she is not in there maybe she needs us, she needs you to find her, but with you inside there we cannot focus on finding her" Karl stopped for a while tears flowing down his cheeks, his eyes red and shaky pulse "I….I just want Carly to be safe" it sounded like he was ready to surrender.

Sam and Wordy were having trouble on stopping the shake in their bodies due to the cold, they heard the whole exchange and feared that Carly might be outside, but they thought that surely she was just hiding somewhere, she must be otherwise her chances were minimum in this weather. As Sam tried to change his stance he almost tripped and got a hold of himself by putting his glove covered hand on the snow, when he did that he saw it, his eyes widen and realization came to him, he looked closer and removed some snow and turned to the trees in the back, panic, he had felt panic just a few times, in the desert when he thought he shot a little girl, here when Jules got hit by a crazy sniper, when he jumped into a grenade in the airport, when Lewis died…now was definitely going to be added to his list "Boss we have a problem" he whispered as Wordy turned to face him with a question mark on his face.

"Sam tell me" Greg said

"I can see an exit from the basement" he leaned to use his flashlight to see inside, it was small and empty, shit it was empty "The hatch was open Carly might have run to the trees, we need to finish this and ask Amy" he added "if Carly its outside with this weather"

"I know Sam" he cursed silently now knowing that there was a child in danger

Sam continued to look at the trees, the reasonable thing to do was to wait to have confirmation on Carly being in the basement, but his heart was racing and his clouded judgment told him that every second spent waiting it was a second a little girl was in the woods; was he doing any good staying there or he should go and look for her now even if it was a goose chase?

"Sam?" Wordy whispered "I know what you're thinking, but he might be lying and she might be there with him" Sam nodded and tried to focus again

"Boss do we stay here?" he had to ask

"We need you there, both" Greg had to take decisions all the time, this one was one of the most difficult "Karl are you still there?" he could hear whispers and wimps, suddenly he was on the phone again

"I will let her go, she will come out first" he said with a certain certainty that was colder than the wreck he was a few seconds ago.

"Ok Karl that's great" Greg added as everyone was ready "Sam, Wordy be ready, they are coming out, Wordy moved a little to have a better position to move if needed, and Sam was ready too.

The door opened and after a few second they saw bloody shaking hands coming out, it was Amy, she was walking slowly and when her face was partially out they saw she was gagged. Jules was eager to reach out for her as she put her gun down to stretch her hand for her to take; she repeated that she was going to be ok now. When she touched her they all were startled by a big crash that sent Ed and Greg and even Jules to attack mode

"Wordy? Sam? Answer me"

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><p>I'll try not to have too many cliffhangers but it is a dramatic need that is never overused: D<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Hello good readers, so yesterday , as I am catching up with old Flashpoint episodes before going completely into season 4, I realized that being in love and in the same team sucks balls (sorry for my language). I really like how in this show they develop the characters in a more personal way, is more character driven and most of the time is more about the people than the whole team tactic, but I really enjoy when the team goes commando, its super fun.

Well without going through the bushes I leave you with chapter 3. I am as tense about this as when I watch an episode!

Hate to ask for reviews but as I told you I am very conscious about this and any comment you may have is welcomed.

Disclaimer: Yesterday I saw Flashpoint and asked if they could like to be mine, my computer didn't answer me so I guess they're still not mine

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

The sound was loud and clear, it came from the back of the house, two shots were heard and then silence.

"Wordy? Sam? damn it" no answer from any of them and Greg felt frustration and worry creeping in, he told Jules to take Amy to safety as Ed and he ran to the back, Spike and Leah jumped from the van all geared up, no more less lethal for them today.

Wordy was ready but years of experience told him that there was something wrong, Sam could feel it too, first Karl had been all emotional and now he sounded calm and cold, there had been a game changer but what? Maybe it was just paranoia of so many cases, so many stand outs. They were both getting ready to stand in each side of the small chalet, Wordy took a few steps forward and stood in between the two windows and was ready to join Sam when a big shattered crash was heard, Wordy's world came down crashing fast as he covered instinctively his face, he felt the glasses falling and he fell too. Two shots were fired from a gun, Wordy new it wasn't from his and definitely not from Sam's.

Sam was still down when he saw the man jumping from the window, he staggered back and fell flat on his butt as the man fell on Wordy, the man jumped fast and started running, Sam stood almost immediately and run to check up on Wordy. They both kicked themselves for not being ready, they lowered their guard.

"Wordy? Are you ok?" he asked leaning close to his fallen friend there was blood on his face "Yeah, yeah I am fine go after him Sam" Sam patted his shoulder and saw the man running towards the woods, he was in pursuit now.

"Boss" a tired voice came through the com links.

"Sam? What happened?" Greg asked as he and Ed were turning around the house, Spike was going on the other side of the house with Leah behind him.

"I am in pursuit of Trent, he jumped out of the window and fell on Wordy, he has some cuts on his face but he's ok" Sam said while he ran, it was difficult under this weather as it was snowing now, the winter had come too early too fast "I need backup and more information on the terrain"

"Sam the trees are a small forest, after a couple of miles there is a small pond, that gives us a small tree area to cover" Spike said

"Thanks"

"Sam, backup is on its way, if you engage Trent you have permission to use lethal force, he might be going after Carly"

"Copy that boss" he was already struggling for breathe, he was in shape but the cold was making it hard for everyone, he entered the woods and he was completely quiet, trying to listen, he took steps forward tracking Trent down, the terrain was difficult with rocks under the snow, sometimes he even missed the plain sand from the desert and the certainty that he was going after a "bad guy", with most of the subjects he has apprehend or killed during his time in the SRU it was never clear, most of the time they were just people pushed too hard.

"Amy?" Jules said "I am Constable Julianna Callaghan, I need you to stay with me, and I need to ask you something," she said for the second time to a shocked bleeding Amy

"I am sorry she is in shock" the paramedic said to her as he was treating the bullet wound, Jules was about to hit something in frustration when she felt a strong hold of her arm, Amy looked at her with real panic in her eye.

"Carly? Where is Carly?, I..I…I asked her to hide in the basement and to run if she could" Damn, Jules thought as she turned to speak on the com link "Boss, Carly was hiding in the basement, the officers in the house confirm that there is no one there, she ran, she is in the forest" she felt frustrated and angry, a little girl in the forest and a crazed man after her.

"Amy, you have to tell me, is Karl capable of hurting Carly?" she didn't get any response "Amy I need to know if he is capable of hurting her" Amy focused for a while and shook her head saying no, Jules couldn't understand "He…He…loves her, but we couldn't…he was…" she tried to speak "its ok, do you know where Carly might have run to?" she asked "I don't…I.." she was out, Amy had succumbed to the cold and the blood loss, Jules spoke to her boss once more to tell her about Karl and asked about her fallen friend.

"He is fine, I am with him and will bring him to the ambulance, Sam started the pursuit of Trent into the woods" Greg said while helping Wordy to stand up, he was holding his head with one hand as blood was falling freely on his face "Ed, Leah and Spike went after Sam and Trent, Winnie I need you to call Team 2 and ask them if they are close we might need them to find Carly and ask for another ambulance, if Carly its outside we will need it"

"Yes, Boss" she said determination all over her face. She was always in the headquarters but was an important part of the team.

"Wordy, buddy can you walk?" Greg asked as he saw him balancing and leaning to his side

"Yes boss, I can't believe we were surprised by Trent, he fell on me and some glass came with him I don't think the cuts are as deep as they seem"

"Yeah well, you might still need some stitches so let's go" They both started walking as they saw Ed and the other two signaling both of them, he was relieved Wordy was fine. They sped out into the woods.

Sam was almost at the end of the tree filled terrain and he could see the pond. He felt sweat coming down his face over his cheek, for a moment he thought back, sweat? He rubbed his hand over his eyebrow and looked at the wetness, it was blood, probably a glass also cut him, when he was up a monticule of snow, he saw her, a small girl in the middle of the pond, standing there in panic, looking around like if she heard something or not knowing where to run too, he looked around and didn't see anybody coming, he knew that going out of the protection of the trees would expose him and if Karl just wanted to protect her he would see him as a threat, but Carly was there alone under the snow and her panicked look was drilling in him, he knew Spike, Leah and Ed were some steps behind him.

"Boss, I have a visual on Carly, she is in the middle of the pond, and there is no sign of Karl" Sam said and before Greg could answer "She is freezing and snow is falling down I am going in"

"Sam?" Greg asked but he knew the former Special Forces soldier was already in his way to the little, he probably would have done the same.

Sam sprinted towards Carly, she wasn't even aware of him, as she saw him she took a few steps back and he slowed down and slowly tried to reach her, he took his black beanie of his head in order for her to see his face and calm her, he had put his gun away and had raised his hands for her to see them too.

"Carly, sweetheart, my name is Sam and I am with the police, your mom send me to bring you home" she just stared and saw him as he came closer, she would take two steps back, when he took the other step he heard it, the sound of ice cracking, he'll know after all his pond hockey years as a child, he stood still, the ice was holding her but his weight might break it "Carly, I need you to walk to me I promise I won't hurt you, I just want to take you home" the girl was shaking and she looked tired, her big hazel eyes were staring with fear and confusion, he couldn't touch her but her face looked pale and she was slightly shaking even though she was wearing winter clothing; she took one step forward with tears falling on her face, Sam smiled and stretched his hand when he heard a shot giving her reassuring words that everything was going to be ok.

Spike, Leah and Ed sprinted into the last part of the wood as they heard a gunshot "Sam?" Ed asked and also Greg almost in unison "Sam?...Sam?"

Sam stood there as he saw the shot hit the frozen water a few feet away, he saw how the ice cracked around it and how Carly was now further than before as she was frozen in panic.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Sam heard Karl yell, but he couldn't move, the ice under his feet just started to crack, he cursed in silence as he never looked away from Carly who was now looking at Karl getting closer to them.

"Spike, keep moving around the pond and try to come closer from behind, Leah you go that way to have a better look on Sam and Carly, I'll find a vantage point here to take Karl down if needed" Ed said and Spike started running as did Leah "Jules, Greg I'll need you here too, bring some rope because the ice seems to be cracking and they all can fall in any minute" He added "Sam, I know you can't answer, but hang in there, try to calm him down and to get Carly closer to you, to be at your reach, we have your back buddy" Sam couldn't stop feeling relieved by that statement, he knew his team was there, now he could focus on the little girl soon to be in shock due to the cold and to calm Karl down, he didn't even tried to get to his gun, _**Do not aggravate the subject **_he repeated as a rookie, Karl got closer and the girl moved closer to Sam.

"Karl, Karl, listen to me, I am Sam Braddock, I work with Sergeant Greg Parker, we are here to help Carly and you, right now you have to stop because…" he started

"SHUT UP!" he continued walking towards Carly with his gun, his body shook too while she continued to reach for Sam, Karl noticed that and turned back to see the SRU agent, Sam was looking at him he wanted for him to turn his attention to him and away from Carly.

"Karl you have to let me help Carly, she is cold and tired, she needs to be safe and that's what you want right?" he started empathizing with Karl's motivation and wished that Greg or Jules to be here negotiating.

Karl looked at him "No one understands"

"I want too" Sam replied

"Carly…" she turned to look at her, she was closer to Sam as he also was moving towards her anytime he had the chance, Karl stood there "She is the best thing it ever happened to me, she is my girl"

"I get it Karl, she is so innocent she should be protected and not put in any danger, I know that and that's why I am here to make sure she is ok, to make sure she is protected" Sam reassured him.

"I wanted for her to be with me because…" he acted as he remembered something and started to get flustered "…But I can't take care of her, who am I fooling around? I am useless" he looked at the little girl "SHE HATES ME NOW!"

"Karl, look at me, Karl" Sam said to him as he saw that Karl was getting to incoherent "You are not useless, we are humans we make mistakes but the people that love us will always stand by us and if Carly loves you half the way you care for her I am sure she'll forgive you; believe me I know" Karl looked at Sam

"Greg I have the solution" Ed said in the com link, everybody moving slowly forward on the pond. Sam had to calm him down this shouldn't have to end up in Karl dying.

"Karl, I need you to lower the gun now, you are not scaring Carly, the gun is scaring her" Sam said "put it down" Karl looked at the gun and saw Carly he started crying and lowered the gun to his side.

"Pppplease Karl" the little girl spoke almost inaudible and Sam leaned a little more to reach her, Karl stopped when he heard the girl and was taken aback as he looked at her with the gun hanging to his side

"Ed, hold on" Ed continued to hold his position after listening to Greg. Jules and Greg were rounding the pond to cover all flanks, Jules couldn't avoid to fixate on Sam, he was there three steps from Carly with a man holding a gun and completely disturbed, she wished she could be there her protective instincts were on alert, even when she had decided her professional career over any personal possibility, with Sam, even though it started as two adults having fun it became bigger than that, and when she realized that she broke it off, she had said it was because her career and the team but really she was scared, scared to face that Sam had found a way into her heart and life, she knew when she told him that she loved him with so much ease. Now she was with Steve and she really enjoyed her time with him, it was great to have someone outside the team but these past days her head had been in her peer, in Sam and his undying way of charm her away even when he didn't want to.

"Karl, you heard Carly, she is scared and cold, she just wants to go home" Sam said talking directly to Karl, he was shaky and was playing with his gun "I know you want what's best for her I know that you want to keep her safe but this place this pond is not safe"

"I know she is scared I know her better than anyone" Karl snorted "She was happy with me, I was happy but she took her away, she took her because she couldn't handle happiness"

"Karl, don't do this, don't ruin your bond with Carly by scaring her more, we all want to go home"

"Good job Sam, he seems tired I am sure he just want to finish this" Greg added "two more steps and you have Carly with you"

"Karl, look at her she is scared but she cares for your" Sam said, the little girl nodded as she couldn't say anything anymore, she took two more step and Sam prayed for one more step "I just want you both safe"

Karl played with his gun and fidgeted with his other hand his hair, he was moving almost pacing from one side to the other, and Sam could feel the ice breaking, one more step he begged to Carly with his hand, he could almost grasp her but any sudden movement could trigger Karl or break the ice completely. Karl just sighed and stopped, he looked at Carly get closer to Sam shaking he focused on the girl and was able to grab her, he took two steps back to stand in safer ice, but Karl saw that as a menace, he started to raise his gun and walk towards them, when he took one step a big crack and the three of them fell into the water.

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><p>I will leave you with this chapter for the weekend because I am not sure I will be able to upload anything during the weekend, I have some other chapters done and the rest of the story is living and growing tightly in my head.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Weekend is gone and I am almost done catching up with season 3, I only have to go through Fault Lines and I'll start season 4. Let me tell you: I LOVE THIS SHOW :D but I do think that sometimes we need more Sam centric or Spike or Wordy or Jules episodes. Greg and Ed get the most attention (I love them but you can't blame me)

Anyways here is the next chapter, thank you very much for the reviews and the alerts, made me very happy!

Disclaimer: not mine.

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><p><strong>Chapter 4 <strong>

Greg and Jules started running faster to get to the pond while Spike and Leah moved to get to where Sam and the others used to stand.

Spike got as close as he could to where Sam and Carly had fallen into the water; he kneeled and slowly lay on his stomach and started to crawl closer to the hole in the ice, talking to Sam so he knew he was there.

Sam was trying to push Carly to keep her as out of the water as possible, a couple of feet away Karl was in the middle of the water trying desperately not to sink. Carly was sobbing as she shook and Sam had to go under the water several times just to keep her afloat.

_**Why was his clothing so heavy**_, Sam thought, he wished he could let go of his vest and shoes. The water was attacking him now and it felt like needles all over his body, it was painful and at the same time numbing.

Spike reached as he laid flat on the ice while Jules got there and quickly secured Spike with a rope, he went as far as he could, his fingertips brushed Carly's clothing, she had this panicked eyes, she was staring at him with pleading eyes to help her out of the water.

"We are here Carly" Spike said with strained voice, they could barely see Sam now as he pushed Carly towards Spike, he stretched and was able to get the girl who was now quiet, "I have her Sam, I have her" he yelled as soon as he reached her, she was taken by Leah who wrapped her in some blankets and ran as fast as she could to deliver the girl to the EMT standing by around the pond.

Sam was now clutching the edge of the ice as only his head could be seen as he struggled to remain afloat; Spike was lying again on his stomach reaching for Sam who was coughing to spill the water he had swallowed. Jules was almost yelling to keep Sam's attention, experience made her knowledgably as all of the members of the team that at that temperature he was probably suffering from hypothermia already.

Sam wanted to be out of the freezing water and into a warm room with warm dry clothes, he was barely holding on as he was getting way too tired and his sight was becoming tunneled and his team's voices were muffled sounds, he realized he was shivering and was about to extend his arm to be pulled out when he remembered, how could he forget, he saw Karl, he wasn't fighting that much anymore and he looked up to see Ed with Greg trying to reach Karl but the ice was too thin to hold more people and Karl was too far from any edge. He took a deep breath and turn to see Spike.

"th..th..throw me the rope" Sam asked with his voice shaking and hoarse, Spike did it and was relieved when Sam fought to tight it to his waist, Spike expected to be pulling him out but Sam pulled the rope to give him more line and Jules just couldn't understand "Sam what are you doing?" he looked at her and then she understood, Karl was still in the water and no one close enough to reach him.

"Boss, Ed!" she yelled and signaled them to come closer.

"Sam, do you think can you help him?" Greg asked as he knew that his team member would never leave anyone to die, so instead of pushing him to get out he asked him.

"He…he..is maybe a foot away…I..I can reach him, when I get him p-p-p-p-pull" Sam struggled to say.

"Sam I want you out from the water" Ed said going somehow against Greg who turned around to face him, few things Ed had gone directly against Greg without discussing it first.

"Greg, I am sorry but we need to take him out of the water" Ed said offline

"Ed I know, I understand; but he needs to try" Greg answered looking at him like he always did when he knew more about them than themselves; he was right, Greg knew them better, somehow he always knows.

"Heee'll die, I have to…" Sam couldn't finish the sentence when he went under, now his body was numb, the water was frozen and it was hard to breathe now, he came out to hear some muffled sounds, it was the sound of Spike and Jules screaming, also Ed and probably also Greg saying something he couldn't make out but as soon as he could, he took a deep breath and started to swim or at least that's what he thought, it was just a foot or 2 to get to Karl but it felt like miles.

Sam griped Karl's jacket. The man got startled and he turned around and crazed eyes met Sam's; Karl felt some support and he started panicking and started pushing Sam underwater, he tried to calm him down but his words were cut by the incoming water; if Karl didn't relax they were both going to die. Ed was yelling at Sam, he heard him with clarity now _**let him go Sam; he'll pull you in, let him go.**_

He knew that was the reasonable thing to do, Ed always looked for the _**let's talk down the subject first before we kill**_ solution but right now he was asking him to give up on Karl; well he couldn't just let go, for some reason he couldn't give up on Karl, he felt the rope get pulled by his waste and he locked his grasp on Karl, but he kept fighting and Sam was getting tired, too tired.

Jules was screaming now, as she was pulling the rope with the help of Ed and now Leah, the three of them were pulling his friend as his body was heavy weight. Greg continued to say something to Sam over the com link. They didn't have time. Spike almost had a lock on Sam, when Karl jumped on him and they both went down, Jules was thrown forward but Ed was able to stop her from falling on Spike, Karl was too strong and now Sam was completely under water; Spike reached wet clothing that danced under water as he helped pulled the rope too, he could feel the ice cracking a little bit and backed down a little, with a big effort they pulled Sam who inhaled desperately as his head came out of the water. Karl followed as Sam hadn't let go.

"Sam, I have you" Spike said somehow relieved that he had Sam, he pulled harder and they got Sam almost half out when Karl just looked at him with dead eyes.

"P-P-Please p-p-pr -protect her…" Sam knew that was a goodbye Karl let go of his hand and Sam almost went back to the water to reach him, he just muffled a small "no" even though he wanted to scream, with a sudden pull he was taken out of the water, but exertion and hypothermia was making him want to go back for Karl, he felt hands all over as he was pulled out entirely from the water.

"Let me…let me go" he said as he fought to get away, "Sam, calm down, Sam please just calm down" Jules repeated.

When the air hit him it hit him hard, it was cold, his body was shaking but not as bad as when he was in the water. He saw Spike and Jules as they pulled him away from the broken ice, they were saying something but all he could hear were incoherent noises, his vision started to blur and he closed his eyes tightly trying to clear it, he opened his eyes again and they stung and his vision did not get any better. He didn't feel that much cold anymore and even though he saw his team mates holding him he could not feel their touch, he tried to say he was cold but he couldn't even articulate a word as his thoughts could not get in any order. He remembered he was in the water with Carly, he panicked and tried to get away, but Jules and Spike were now half carrying him.

He felt too tired to keep struggling, he suddenly felt peaceful as he turned to see up, he saw the sky and some trees, the snow was falling, and his vision turned black and he was taken by the darkness.

When Ed took over for Jules and grabbed Sam from under his arm, he felt how he barely moved and he was mumbling, Spike and Ed had to half carry him as he was heavy by all the water and his suit; suddenly his body just went limp. They never ran this fast as Greg was on the phone asking to have everything ready for Sam where the ambulance was parked.

They got to the ambulance and he was placed on the gurney, the EMT started to take his vest off as several heat blankets were ready, he was now quiet and was not moving at all his eyes were closed and was not making any sounds, Jules fought the tears as he was stripped slowly of his gear and the EMT worked on him by placing the blankets on his upper body, they had to try and elevate his temperature slowly to avoid a metabolic acidosis, he was whiter and blue tinges in his lips and now his unprotected fingertips crept. The EMTs were gentle, moving slowly and taking their time to get all the gear and part of his clothing, rough or sudden movement would cause more damage to the already shocked body.

The whole team had backed down a little and only Jules remained there next to Sam wanting to touch him, to comfort him to make him know he was not alone, but the stillness of his body made him look dead and the thought was overwhelming, the EMT worked as fast as it was possible to place him on the ambulance and Jules hopped in as she turned to see her team, with unspoken words Greg nodded. The doors were closed and the ambulance was gone.

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><p>Thank you again. I keep on learning to organize my ideas into the story and hopefully you can see an improvement, if not let me know!<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Oh well, I know I updated the previous chapter a little bit faster. I will keep a schedule that I am going to stick to it, you know now that I am into the story and all I really want to give you my vision in a proper manner and scheduled the uploads according to my other activities and responsibilities. I will post on Monday and Friday!

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything but my imagination.

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

Jules saw in horror how the EMT stripped Sam from his clothes using scissors and as he plugged him to the monitors; the slow heart rhythm was almost imperceptible, the paramedic was working on keeping Sam warm as they had to raise his body temperature slowly in order to avoid any distress that could cause a heart or respiratory arrest, Jules knew everything it had to be known to help people suffering from hypothermia and she repeated in her head _**people will seem dead, they are not to be considered dead until their body is warmed up. **_Shecould hear the paramedic telling the driver to drive faster as his condition was getting worse, she heard the noise in the background, the beep, the paramedic, her heart; her heart was pounding so hard that she could hear it as a drum in her ears.

"Constable?" the EMT voice seemed not to break her concentration, he raised his voice a little, she turned to face him "how long was he submerged in the water?" she heard the question but she couldn't manage to form the words "Constable?" he repeated, she turned around to see Sam as the beeping in the monitor was slower and slower, she reacted when the EMT touched her slightly on the arm.

"Ummm, yes he was for a few seconds or minutes" she said to the EMT who proceeded to continue to pull some of the blankets away to place the stethoscope on his chest, he started to move frantically looking for some supplies and stood to pull out all of the blankets, he saw the distress in Jules.

"I will insert a suction catheter down his wind pipe, there is fluid in his lungs and due to the hypothermia we cannot do any compressions on his chest, his heart rate is irregular and his breathing is getting stressed even though we are working on leveling his body heat" she nodded "How can I help? she said snapping out of her cloudiness and her instincts kicked in, this was not time to become a damsel.

"We cannot use any medication on him therefore I need you to hold him, he seems to be out for the count but he could react to the tube going down his wind pipe."

"Sure" she said, she carefully placed her hands on his wrists and as her hands made contact she only felt ice cold and she couldn't even feel the beat of his pulse, she held her tears and tighten her grasp "ready"

The EMT introduced the catheter and even though it was nice and easy having no answer whatsoever was more discouraging, she knew what it was to have a tube down her pipe and it was uncomfortable and painful even with meds in her system, Sam didn't even flinch, rapidly water started coming out from the tube and she was pulled from him, she didn't want to let go, the EMT used the stethoscope again to hear his lungs and pulled the blankets once more as the driver let them know they were at the hospital.

The doctors were waiting and as soon as Sam was pulled from the ambulance she followed up to the ER doors.

"Sorry you can't come in here, you'll have to wait" the nurse told Jules, she saw the tears in her eyes "As soon as I have any news the doctor will come and inform you, you can wait over there" she pointed her to a small waiting area; as the doors opened she could hear the doctors, nurses and the beeping sounds from the machines, the doors were closed and the noise was gone, she was left standing there looking at the doors, tears falling down her cheeks she wasn't fighting it anymore.

The team arrived soon after, they walked through the aisles of the hospital in complete silence, and not a word was heard during the drive to the hospital, just Greg requesting Winnie to let them know about Amy and Carly as well as informing her about Sam and where the team was heading.

They went into the waiting area where Jules was pacing in front of the window.

"Jules! Any news?" Greg asked, she turned around and saw the whole team with expectant eyes, they all looked tired and worried, and how could they not worry if there was a family member in the emergency room.

"No, he has been there for a few minutes now and the doctors haven't come out yet" she answered while trying to control the shakiness in her voice; Spike and Wordy walked closer to her and Spike patted her in her shoulder as a sign of comfort. Greg walked to speak with the nurses to find out anything he could on Sam's condition.

They waited for almost an hour, Wordy and Ed had called their wives to let them know they'll wait to have any news. Spike and Leah had taken the responsibility to get everybody some coffee; Greg continued to sit on a chair looking at the ER door he was tired to ask for information and Jules, well Jules had already spoken with Steve as they were supposed to go out, she didn't even remember ED until he called her; he had heard about what happened and he said he'll pass by later once his shift was over. They were lost in silence when the doors opened and all of them jumped.

"I guess you are here for Mr. Sam Braddock?" a doctor asked standing in front of the SRU team members, Greg stepped forward and nodded. "Mr. Braddock came in with a case of severe hypothermia; because it was induced by water fluid had to be taken out of his lungs during transport, once he came into the ER his heart rate was slow and his breathing was forced, once we were able to pull all the water of his lungs we pulled the catheter and the stress caused a respiratory arrest so we had to intubate him" the team was lost listening to the doctor "We had to rewarm him slowly to avoid any more trauma and as he had some abrasions around his waist" Spike closed his eyes thinking on the rope tight around his waist "we decided to re warm his blood through the dialysis machine which is less invasive than warming his stomach cavity, it takes more time but this will prevent any damage to his kidneys as well as it is common in cases of severe hypothermia"

"Doctor, is he going to be ok?" Ed asked

"Right now we have stabilized him but he is still in critical condition, his temperature is going up but continues to be unconscious, and we will keep him intubated until he regains consciousness, also some exams have been ordered to check his lungs for signs of any damage or possible causes for acute respiratory distress or pneumonia, he had mild frostbite in his arms and legs but nothing serious or permanent. We will monitor him overnight in the ICU, hopefully he'll regain consciousness soon, the first hours are the most critical but we expect for him to pull through"

"Can we see him?" Jules asked

"It's not convenient, but maybe one person and for no more than 10 minutes" they all nodded "I'll be on call if you need anything and we'll make sure you are kept well informed on his progress" the doctor said as he turned around and disappear as he came in.

"You should go in Jules" Greg said surprising her, she knew that her feelings towards Sam could only bring issues to the team because of the rules but right now they were a family and he knew that she needed it more than anyone else "I'll call his father and mother, we didn't think of it, but they should know" Greg added "Guys you better go home now, I'll stay for a little longer but you should go back to your families, tomorrow we will see each other at the headquarters and we better be rested"

The team wanted to stay but they could not do anything more for Sam and they really needed to rest after this horrid day. They would come back tomorrow before starting their shift.

Jules walked through the ICU doors, dim light and beeping noises that were a little bit too familiar, she was left there by the nurse and she walked closer to the bed. She saw Sam covered in heat blankets, cables coming from under them, the tube going down his throat through his mouth that was helping him breathe, under all that she could barely see him, his face was clammy and pale, even waxy, she took a deep breath and stood next to him, wanting to touch him, just to make sure he was real but his hands where under the heat blankets so she could not hold them. She freed some unshed tears that she had been holding; she placed her hand above the blanket at the level of his hand.

"It's not fair Sam" she said with a small smile in her face "when I told you that someday I would return the favor for the long hours you spend with me after I got shot I was thinking more on helping you with renovations or to improve your negotiation skills" she swallowed hard "I didn't mean this" she said looking down "You better wake up soon because I won't allow you to bail on me" she continued, she took a deep breath and cleaned up her tears "The team needs you Sam…I need you" she finished the only words that she could muster even though she wanted to say much more.

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><p>It was a dark plain room, he was sitting down on an uncomfortable chair, and he had been there for more than an hour now and was looking at the man sitting in his desk filled several paperwork to do.<p>

"Is this going to take long?" the man asked

"Just a few more minutes, sir" the man wearing a white coat answered.

The smell of formalin was overwhelming when he went in an hour ago but now he had gotten used to; he stood once more to pace in the small room as he had done before, this place that some people never saw in a lifetime he had seen way too many times in his, he hated it.

"Mr. Trent?" a woman wearing a white coat entered the room "Yes!" he answered; "Please come with me"

He was escorted to the morgue and in front of him laid a covered body by a thin white sheet; he hesitated taking a step forward closer to the metal table that held the body. He closed his eyes and rubbed them with his fingers, the doctor stood next to the table and asked him if he was ready, he nodded and as he locked his sight to the body in front of him. The doctor pulled the blanket away and the face of a Karl Trent was in front, his face with a weird bluish tone; he took two steps backward and spun around throwing his hands to the air and then onto his head as sobs escaped his mouth, he wanted to walk back that door, to turn back time, he wanted that the man on the table, the dead man there wasn't his baby brother but he knew that it was impossible. He walked towards the body and touched his face; he shed a few tears as he caressed his brother's cold face.

"I am sorry Mr. Trent" the doctor said, "I can give you some time alone, if you please" he didn't even react he was focusing on his brother now. He wanted to remember when was the last time he saw him or spoke to him; He sniffed and stood straight now as he pulled the blanket on his face once more

"No there is no need. I am done here" he said stoically and left the room.

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><p>Jules came out of the ICU to find Greg sitting on one of the uncomfortable chairs from the waiting area; he looked, as always, tired but willing to be there for his team. She had worked for years in Team 1 and regardless of anything she appreciated Greg in a way that is was deeper than just a boss. He was a father figure too; she loved her father and admire his determination to care and provide for his children but being so far away from home and after all the sacrifices she had to make to get where she was Greg had always been the steady port and an example of life. She tiredly sat next to him and slump her body sitting loosely on the chair.<p>

"I called Sam's parents" Greg said tiredly rubbing his eyes "I had to leave a message because they seem to be somewhere in Europe" she just nodded and sighed.

"You should go home boss" she said

"Meh, I don't have a better place to be at" he smiled coyly as he always did when trying to lighten up the mood and it was true he was where he needed to be, with family.

"He looked better" she said not knowing if it was truth or she was assuring herself of that.

"Jules, he'll be ok" Greg said with a piercing honesty "He is a fighter and stubborn as a mule"

"I know boss, is just…"she couldn't manage to finish her words; she didn't even know what she wanted to say "It's just that, we are only human but we keep acting like we are invincible" she said remembering herself getting shot, Lewis and so many other close calls.

"Jules, we do this job because its more than a job for us, we don't believe we are invincible, we just act like that sometimes because each one of us is just scared that we aren't" Greg said as he looked to the wall as Jules nodded.

"You are right boss, it's scary, but not because of the job but the bonds we make, I mean the times we have been in the hospital, loosing Lou, the people we've killed… it's not losing one member or being in danger is being certain that we can't stop it" she said, she took a few seconds and took a deep breath "sorry boss, I am just tired and I don't know what I am saying"

"I know exactly what you are saying Jules, every time we go out we joke, we believe in our skills, the bond we share, that being the best will keep us safe and then something like this happens and you question yourself why, the truth is, that you'll never know, what I know is that we make sure we'll be better next time, we go back to work the next day and we start all over again" he told her understanding where she came from, she cared for Sam as she would care for any of her team mates but he knew that it was special between this two, they had broken off their relationship and have been only but professional but there are certain bonds that ran a little deeper than others. "We have lost a lot Jules but we have gained so much more too" he comforted her by placing his arm around her shoulders for a while they stayed in silence.

"Sergeant Parker?" a nurse asked as Greg stood up and nodded "Mr. Braddock is awake" she added with a smile. "He is now breathing by himself and is in and out of consciousness we will keep him in the ICU until tomorrow morning, if everything goes as expected he could be out by Monday, right now it will be better if you come back tomorrow" the nurse finished and parted to her station. Relief was palpable as the two SRU members heard the nurse.

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><p>Ok this will be the chapter for the weekend. I know it doesn't have much action but I still hope is entertaining. Please leave your comments don't be shy :D<p>

I


	6. Chapter 6

This Chapter is Sam-less I know is not what I promised, believe me this story is Sam-centric but I love the whole team so they deserve their time too. This builds up more of the story and hopefully remains true to the characters and Flashpoint.

How awesome is that tomorrow we'll have new FP episode I can't wait to watch it. Well it will air on ION and I don't have ION but I'll do what I have to do?...

Disclaimer: I love Flashpoint and if I could pay with love the show already would be mine but I cant so not mine!

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><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

Jeff Trent was a man of few words, always had been. He was a man that had been given too many responsibilities way too soon in his life. His father had been killed in the line of duty, a police officer that in his whole career only pulled his gun once and it was the time he was killed; his mother had been driven to insanity therefore she threw her life and forgot about her two children, in her last days in the world she had forgotten about who she once was and who their children were.

At 16 years old he had taken the responsibility to raise his younger brother Karl, they were a family, a small one but it was good enough for both of them. Jeff had worked hard to graduate from High School and against the odds he decided to become a cop, he swore to serve and protect everyone that needed it. Karl hadn't taken very well his decision to be a cop but with time he wanted to believe he felt proud of him. After a few ups and downs Karl had been able to make a life of his own as well that made Jeff feel more than proud, they had beaten the odds.

Jeff had been offered a new detective job over Vancouver and after a lot of thought and discussion they both agreed that it was the best choice, Karl had told him that it was time for him to have the life he wanted; he had left the job on another city first time they were apart and a year after he had recognized his body in the city morgue.

He left the morgue in silence, signed the papers and left. He drove to his brother house while listening to the voicemail that made him come back, it was frantic and he couldn't make out what Karl wanted to say _**Jeff, I am in big trouble….I don't know how…I am so sorry Jeff, I was stupid…please call me I really need your help.**_ He wanted to know what drove his brother to the state he was on the phone and his house could hold the answer he was looking for. "What were you into Karl?" he asked himself. On the radio he could hear once more how a mad man had taken a woman and a child hostage, that evil man was his brother, how wrong were they.

He drove into the driveway of Karl's house. He carefully opened the door, everything was dark and he had trouble finding the switch; Karl had moved to this house after he left, it was the first time he was coming in and he really felt angry that it was now that he was there. As he turned on the light he saw everything pristine, he had always been the messy one so he wasn't surprised when he found the house in complete order. He left his car keys on the table and walked inside, he wanted to fight the tears that were menacing to drown him and he did.

The dim light provided him with a gloomy sight of his brother's house, it was silent. He walked by the living room ignoring the place and went upstairs without even knowing he opened the door at the end of the small aisle and there he was in his brother´s room, he turn on the lights and was shocked with what he saw it was a total contrast from what the whole house looked like, it was not organized but everything was messy, out of place; as he stepped forward he turned around to see a wall covered with pictures and notes; he made out a young woman, blond sad looking with a little girl walking on the street, there were several pictures of them but there were not the only ones, pictures a few men; he scanned the whole wall the woman had her name written next to her "Amy" and the little girl "Carly" for the men most of them had question marks and only a couple had names but not surnames, in the center he could read the name Reid McCallum he stopped there and threw his hand to the air in frustration, turned around to see his brother´s bed placing his hands on his hip _**What were you doing Karl? What had you gotten into? **_He turned around once more to sit on Karl´s bed and stared at the wall, after a few minutes of shedding a few tears he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and after contemplating his options he started dialing, before he could answer to the operator from 911 he saw something under his brother´s cabinet, he hung up the call and pulled the box out, he knew the box.

He placed the box on the bed and opened it with his pocket knife when he realized it had a key, once he opened it he remembered all the things his brother kept, he was the only one who treasured the few pictures from better days, when the family was complete. Karl held to those memories, he fought the tears he knew that if there was something that could explain Karl´s behavior it could be here, once he dug into all the content he found nothing until he pushed the box he saw the upper lid peeled from the box, he peeled it carefully and found an envelope, he sat on the bed and pulled a few pictures and paperwork, as he read the documents his eyes widen and he quickly put all the paperwork inside and ran out of the bedroom.

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><p>At headquarters everything was dark when Wordy along Ed came in; talking about anything that would keep them game for the day, it was barely 1:00AM. They have decided to be there earlier than usual, as they walked in they saw a light on in the computer center, they thought team 3 was out patrolling and team 4 was on a call therefore it only left the operator in the floor, they dropped their bags as instinctively moved silently to the room coming from both angles, Ed had his gun out and Wordy followed close after, they both stood next to the door as they heard typing noises, Ed turned to look and see who it was as he turned he saw the "suspect", he signaled Wordy to put his gun away and went in<p>

"Spike!" as he turned around he saw Leah laying on one bench with a cup of coffee on the floor, she sat immediately after hearing Ed. Spike was also startled and spun around on the chair to face a both shocked and a little mad Ed and a smiling Wordy "What the hell are you both doing here so early?" Ed asked placing his hands on his hip "Shift doesn't start in more than 3 hours" he finished his inquiry

"I couldn't sleep and had many things in my head so I came here" Spike said faster than he had never spoken before, he was noticeably sleep depraved and running on coffee "Same here Ed" Leah answer rubbing her eyes; Ed couldn't actually call on them because he was standing there too. Reality was that after a day like yesterday their safe ground the one that gave them the feeling of control was this headquarters; it was never easy to have a dead suspect and even worse to have one of their members get hurt, each one of them dealt differently but they all went to the same common ground.

"What kept you up Spike?" Wordy asked coming closer to the tech.

"After we took off from the hospital I was way too flustered, I went home and tried to go to bed but I couldn't stop asking myself about Kart Trent, don't know why" he spluttered out as he turned around to face the computer "so I came to make some research" Wordy turned to see Ed and Ed just came closer crossing his arms.

"Karl was a model citizen as we all knew but I went further back into his record, he was actually detained and processed once when he was 16 for violent behavior, he attacked a few of his peers in school" That called Ed´s attention and stepped closer "It didn't appeared in his record because there were closed, sealed I mean"

"What does that...?" Wordy was going to ask

"Patience" Spike chuckled "The thing is that he was never placed in any correctional center because he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was sent to a mental institution for 6 months after he was released, he never got into any trouble again, well until yesterday" they all went silent, they usually got the facts of the suspects and a few times they didn't get the whole picture so they had these research sessions later to know more about the suspects life and then maybe understand their motivations, it was a way to provide closure and remind themselves that they were human too.

"Karl must have been out of his meds, set up by the stress of not having Amy and Carly in his life" Wordy added trying to cover the loops in this case

"That's not all; his brother is Detective Jeff Trent from the 51st precinct he is in the narcotic division" he stopped "he moved a little bit more than a year ago to Vancouver to work for the police over there" Spike added "Karl was his only brother guys" he stopped "and lady" he smiled towards Leah who smiled back at him as she sipped more coffee from her cup "they had a pretty tragic childhood if you ask me, parents dead when they were way too young, father was killed by a subject during a robbery, he was a cop too and mother committed suicide soon after. Jeff took care of Karl, he was able to keep him with him until he turned 18" the whole room was quiet as there were nothing they could do "He had more than 15 years living his life normally, his brother even moved out after taking care of him for all those years and less than 3 months ago he starts acting erratic and paranoid, obsessing over Amy and Carly, he kept repeating that he wanted to protect her, there is a small police report but Amy never pressed charges" Spike told the team

"I agree with Wordy on this, he was way to distressed by his breakup with Amy and stopped taking his meds, the coroner´s report will be ready by Monday so we will know if he had stopped taking his medication" Ed said as he turned around to leave the center.

"I guess" Spike said as he turned around again "For a moment there he fought in the water to get out, he wanted to live and then he just let go" he added without making eye contact with the expectant audience.

"He was too tired Spike" Wordy told the tech "He definitely was erratic and if he was out of his medication he was confused, unstable and very dangerous plus the effects of the freezing water"

"That's the thing, he was violent but he still kept attached to certain feelings like love and protective instinct he was not completely out of it, you know?" Leah added and surprised everybody by her comment as she had been quiet all this time, the three men just nodded and looked at her.

Ed sighed and turned around "I guess we will never know what went into Karl´s mind but one thing is clear he was lucid enough to protect Carly and even Sam by letting him go" Ed added, silence took over for a few seconds and he started to leave "Spike, Leah go take a little nap and rest, I need you both alert and you seem that have been awake the whole night" they both stared at Ed "Oh! Wait! You´ve been awake all night" he smiled jokingly and left the room as he left his phone rang and he answered, soon after he returned to the room.

"Guys Sam regained consciousness and is breathing on his own, the doctors seemed to be very certain he'll be ok!" Ed said waving the phone where Greg had called him a few seconds ago.

"Samtastic!" Spike said excitedly as he stood "I told you he was too cool to let hypothermia take him down" he said tapping Wordy in the back who was smiling as well. Leah was sitting in the back took a deep breath and stood smiling and getting into the partial celebration

"He still is in bad shape but he´ll be fine" Ed added "That means lets finish this shift without major issues and we go to make a hospital visit at the end of it." Ed left the room followed by Wordy, Spike was just closing up everything in the computer when he saw Leah picking up her cup as well, and she seemed a little more drained and yet shocked by the whole thing.

"Are you ok Leah?" he asked all serious and concerned, since she came to be part of Team 1 she had been a great addition with her strong will, confidence and certain extreme personality, she had been able to get into a team replacing not only one of its members but his best friend, it took him one day to know that she would be a good team asset and when she front forwardly had given them all the bracelets to remember Lou he knew she meant well and was respecting the memory of his fallen friend.

"Yeah I am fine Spike" she smiled coyly and started in her way out

"Leah!" he called her "Its ok we all deal with everything differently, I am not the one to give advice or anything but if you need to talk I am available" he smiled at her with pure honesty, that was Spike a grown man with a childish and honest personality.

"Thanks" she said as she smiled back and went out leaving a now tired Spike inside.

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><p>The end<p>

Of the Chapter that is. I have been daydreaming about this story so believe me I am very invested in it and your reviews are very encouraging to you are feeding my hungry imagination. Thank you!


	7. Chapter 7

I know I told you I would post on Monday and Friday but today and tomorrow I'll have a very tight schedule that will extend through the weekend, I wanted to make sure I kept my previous promise.

How cool was the new episode? I liked it very much I believe Jessica Steen (Donna) should appear more often because her dynamic with the team and specially Ed is great. For all JAM fans that last scene was priceless I am still smiling at it!

Disclaimer: Flashpoint is not mine!

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><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

The first time he woke up he was startled before his body could register the pain that traveled throughout his whole body, he felt numb and took a few moments to realize he was on a hospital bed, it was the beeping sound, dim light and uncomfortable tube down his throat that gave the place away. He was taken by unconsciousness very quickly after the nurse and doctor took the tube out, he is sure he was asked something but couldn't remember what. The second time he woke it was a coughing fit that took over his body and felt like his chest was going to explode as the pressure was of a heavy cement block lying on it, he had tried to call someone but his failed attempt s were just good enough to get some air inside his lungs; he wanted to ask what had happened but after the nurse came in she just gave him a smile and said something that he couldn't make out and went into darkness again.

The worst part of waking up a third time is that as his brain went into full awareness also the lingering pain that seemed to be waiting for him to notice it in order to travel rampant all over his being. He didn't open his eyes immediately as he started listening the sounds around him, he tried harder to make out what it was, it was a symphony of beeps, no, there was something else there were voices in the room, voices that had become way too familiar, he fought the need to open his eyes as his head was pounding, he wanted to just lay there without anyone or anything noticing his consciousness, maybe if he stayed still this soreness and throbbing headache would just go away. He swallowed hard as his throat still felt like sand paper, he decided to open his eyes slowly, the light seemed to be piercing directly from the sun, the light just made his head throb harder and as he closed his eyes tightly he fought the nausea and made a sound that in his ears seemed that have come from someone else, the voices stopped and soon after he felt a hand placed on his hand that was holding it tightly, it felt soft and warm and way to comforting; he tried to open his eyes again as his name was called

"Sam, buddy?" Greg repeated a couple of times, Sam recognized the voice as "boss" and another voice came from next to him the one holding his hand.

"Sam? Can you hear me?" It was Jules and her voice was soft and tender as she had always spoken to him when they were alone, with a sweetness that she only showed in his presence, he swallowed again and opened his eyes slowly trying to breath and concentrate on his breathing, he saw the figures in front of him, dark first but as his eyes cleared he could see them both standing in each side of the bed, he was slightly raised so he wasn't flat on his back. He saw both and tried to give them a reassuring smile that he was almost certain didn't go all that well as even smiling seemed to drain him from all his energy.

He cleared his throat as he saw the expectant eyes in front of him –"Boss… Jules" –he said slowly and with hoarse voice, he cleared his throat once more as a chill ran over his body and as he shook Jules´ hand grip tighten.

"Hey buddy!" Greg said with a big smile that shaky smile that he always gave them when a job was well done "How are you feeling Sam?" he asked eager somewhat to know that his young member was ok.

"I..I..feel like I was torn apart…hmmm…and put back together" he mustered but the effort just insulted his lungs and he started coughing violently, he struggled to sit up and Greg and Jules helped him out to sit a little bit higher, his priority was to stop coughing because he couldn't breathe and because it hurt like hell. The nurse came in and took Jules away as she fixed the bed to be raised a little bit more and gave Sam some water, he had tears in his eyes for all the coughing and was left breathing heavily

"It's good to have you back Sam" the nurse told him with a smile he turned to see her with confusion but gratitude "Now that you are awake you have to try not to speak, your lungs are still weak" She turned to face the two Team 1 members "Try not to make him talk, you can stay here as long as you want or as long as the visiting hours allow you that is, the doctor will be here later"

"Thank you" Jules answered as she walked to Sam´s side once more. Sam tried to say something when Jules placed her finger on her mouth to tell him to be quiet "You heard the nurse no talking" He looked at her pleadingly, she knew the question "You fell on freezing water you got us all pretty scared" he turned to face Greg looking for answers too, he wanted to ask about what happened to Amy, Carly and Karl but his eyes were already starting to close once more

"Don't worry Sam, we will be here when you wake up again, we are done with our shift and the team are dying to talk to you too" Greg told Sam as he was already drifting into sleep. Sam turned back to Jules who was holding his hand, he fell asleep.

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><p>The whole team was gathered outside Sam´s room they were just hanging there waiting to hear from the doctor who had been inside for a few minutes; they all looked better than yesterday even though they had just finished their shift but as Ed expected they´ve had a slow shift. The doctor came out and they all stood and surrounded the doctor from where they were standing, the doctor smiled even nervously of the intimidating group of people.<p>

"I have good news; Mr. Braddock is now conscious and responding. He will be in pain and shaky for a few days and he has to be careful with respiratory issues he is still very susceptible for bacteria or virus; he´ll feel tired for a few days but he´ll make a full recovery. His body temperature is normal and no major damages were suffered by his vital organs. We will keep him today and tomorrow but if everything goes ok he will be able to leave tomorrow afternoon" the whole team just took a deep breath it was great to have good news. "You can go in but just for a while I know you´ll like to see him".

"Thank you doctor" Greg said as the doctor left the group, they all headed to the room with the common stealth mode, the nurse was coming out and the team stepped in.

Spike went in first carrying flowers and a big smile as he saw Sam lying in bed with his eyes open and fidgeting with his IV "Love I brought you flowers!" Spike said with joy as the others followed right behind him with a big smile, Sam couldn't help but chuckle at the tech waving a bunch of flowers, he tried to get a hold of his breathing but some coughing was ensued by the laugh, Spike changed his stance and almost dropped the flowers as he went to Sam´s side to give him water. "Sorry Sam it seemed like a great joke" Sam looked at him

"It was" he said with a smile and raspy voice "Thanks…for the flowers" he said pointing at them.

"You welcome, it was Leah´s idea though" he said smiling at her

"Hey man, how are you?" Ed asked "because you look terrible" he said jokingly

"Feel like crap but I am sure I still look better than you" Sam added with a smile

"Ouch" Wordy said tapping Ed´s shoulder "Hey we are just happy you are all good now or at least on your way to"

"Thanks" Sam answered looking at the whole team.

"I guess you´ll have the vacations you wanted" Leah added as she sat on the bed´s foot and tapped his leg "And I thought you´ll finish teaching me about long range shots" she said

"I would rather go to work now" Sam asured her

"Well you´ll have to wait for at least two weeks" Jules answered "The doctor said no exertion or any demanding physical activity" she added

"That will be hard considering you are always moving" Spike said "I´ll take you a few video games so we can play after my shifts and while you are at home" Spike added with excitement.

"Well guys and ladies I think we need to let Sam rest for the day, we can come back tomorrow" Greg said. They all left the room but him, Jules was the last to leave and waved at Sam with her hand, he did the same were raising his hand weakly.

"Boss?" Sam asked

"I called your parents they are in Europe so I couldn't get a hold of them" Greg said

"They´ll call when they get the message" Sam added "anyways they shouldn't worry as I will be fine" he added

"Yes, you will" Greg said as he sat on a chair next to Sam "Amy and Carly are fine, they are here in the hospital, well Carly is still a patient but she´ll be fine" Sam just nodded as he turned to continue fidgeting with his IV

"What about Karl, did we pull him out of the water?" Sam asked almost knowing the answer; the whole day´s events were blurry in his memory now

"It was too late for Karl" Greg answered with the same struggle he always had when they lose someone, even when they are taking down "bad" people having to see someone dying was not the outcome they were trained for. Sam couldn't help but feel sad and angry at the same time even though Karl was the threat he wanted to save him for some reason, Sam coughed a little more "We did what we could, YOU did everything you could, he was beyond help by then"

"Was he boss?" Sam questioned more himself than Greg "I don't know about beyond help, he had these look" he turned around to face Greg now "that look that you know has determination and it wasn't of dying but to protect that little girl"

"He wasn't well and struggled with schizophrenia for years, he was just a man pushed to his limit" Greg assured him "Its clichéd in our line of work but we can't save them all"

"Yeah" Sam added as he got more comfortable on his bed, Greg took the queue to leave and let him rest.

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><p>A man was taking pictures outside the hospital and as he finished he walked to an ally nearby. He hopped into an SUV and turned the camera on to show the pictures he had taken for apparently the whole day.<p>

"You are sure she is there?" a man asked as he sat in the shadows

"Yes, they both are there" as the photographer showed the man pictures of Amy going inside the hospital wearing a sling in her arm "I spoke with some staff" he added "the girl is been kept in a room in pediatrics, she has no protection"

"That means that he couldn't speak with anybody" he assured himself and a confident smile was drawn on his face

"The only issue is that…" the man turned to stare menacingly to the man with the camera, he swallowed and continued "The police officer that saved the girl is in this hospital, his team mates too" he showed the picture

"So? They have no clue"

"They don't but they are SRU" the man added "they are the best from the police going inside the hospital without a plan could be bad news"

"Right" the man said annoyingly "we won't go in today, I´ll send a man to the dead man´s house to find out if he left anything there" the man with the camera nodded "I´ll fix this tomorrow" he added

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><p>If you are wondering this story has a few more chapters. Hope you enjoyed it and if everything goes as planned I might upload before monday as well! :D<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

I had to post until today due to some horrid Monday, I have been writing this and saving it in my USB, yesterday I misplaced it and almost stopped breathing but I found it, panic mode off and of course I have saved it in my hard disk and also have sent it to myself *hahaahahaha* funny thing is that I have many important stuff saved in my USB and for some reason my 1st worry were the stories I have in it *plop*

It is appropriate to post today as it is Tuesday and is Flashpoint Tuesday *yeyeyeyeye*

Disclaimer: I still daydream a lot about Flashpoint but is not mine.

Enjoy

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><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

"Hot call team 1" Winnie´s voice interrupted the already set up team 1 from the SRU. It was Monday morning, it seems that today was going to be a long day, their shift started at 5:00AM and they had already returned from a call, someone had called talking and rambling on how he placed a bomb in the train tracks, but it turned out to be a false alarm, an invention from a delusional man. Now they were being called to a house close by. The neighbors have heard some noises and screams; there was supposedly someone inside but no confirmation. The team suited up and left.

The three SUV´s and the van arrived within a few minutes to the location; they could see the door half open

"Ed and Wordy, you´ll go to the front door, Leah and Jules try to find a way from the back, be careful we don't know who is inside or if there is anyone inside" Greg said, the police was there and informed that they have tried to contact the home but no one had answered "Winnie do we have the name of the owner yet?" The team was waiting "Boss!" Winnie sounded puzzled "The owner is Karl Trent; he purchased the house almost a year ago"

The whole team just turned around to stand next to Greg waiting for an explanation, coincidence or not, by experience they knew nothing was a coincidence "Winnie found out if Jeff Trent is in town, it might be his brother inside" Greg asked as Winnie gave him a yes boss.

"Ed?" Greg asked

"It's way too convenient, almost two days ago we were trying to talk this guy down now his house" Ed said trying to put the cards on the table "Lets follow the original plan, there might be someone inside that needs our help and as far as we know this is just pure coincidence" Ed added "Let's go with extra caution and lets finish this" he assured his team. Leah and Jules went to the back as Wordy and Ed went to the front; Greg followed Spike into the van, he had already set up everything

"Boss according to this Jeff Trent came into the city on Saturday night; he has already identified his brother at the morgue. He rented a car in the airport but paid cash and we have not known addresses" Spike told Greg

"Ed, this might be a distress brother making noises in the house, he has not known address so it's only logical he came to his brother´s house, if it's what's going on here, he will be emotional and probably violent" Greg told his team "copy" Ed answered as he pulled to the front porches

Wordy and Ed went into the front porch silently, they tried to look through the glassed door but they couldn't make out anything as the door was opened they stood there "Jules, do you have visibility into the house?"

"Yes boss the kitchen window has no curtains, the first floor is empty" she confirmed "No noises are heard either but the subject could be upstairs" she said over the comm link. Leah stood a few inches higher than Jules and looked into the window, her eyes widen as she saw blood on the floor and signaled Jules "Ed there is blood on the floor and we can make out an arm or a leg, someone is hurt inside" They all went to alert mode

"We are going in boss" Ed told Greg

"Go ahead" he confirmed

Ed and Wordy went in yelling their usual battle cry announcing their presence by identifying themselves as SRU. Wordy ran to the body slumped on the floor on a pool of blood, Jules and Leah soon joined; they both check on the other areas of the small house and cleared the place. They still hadn't heard any noise coming from upstairs. The three agents waited for Wordy's assessment on the victim.

"She is dead" he confirmed after as he stood and went into formation, Ed went first up the stairs as they all followed "Boss, the first floor is clear, one female casualty, not identified yet" Ed informed Greg "we are going upstairs, the house is a mess" he confirmed

The four team members got to the top of the stairs and were standing in the small aisle, Jules opened the door to the right to find a small bathroom, empty so she informed the team that it was clear, Leah opened the door to the left, it was a small girly bedroom, she went in followed by Jules, they both search the place and closet, nothing, the room was clear. Wordy and Ed went directly to the last room at the end of the aisle, they went in to the bedroom that was even messier than the rest of the house, they went directly to the room and search in the bathroom and the closet, even under the bed, nothing, Clear!

"There is no one else in the house boss" Wordy informed "The bedroom has been ransacked, like they were looking for something" he added

"The forensic is on its way to take evidence and to pick up the body" Greg informed "What's your take Ed?"

"Someone came in into the house looking for something, it might have been surprised by someone panicked and left, probably the woman downstairs found the perpetrator" Ed added

"What were they looking for?" Jules asked to herself as she looked at all the mess, she turned around to where the wall with all the pictures now stared at them completely empty just by some tape and paper corners that gave away that there was something posted there, she walked to it and knelt to look at the papers on the floor, she pulled a picture "Boss, Karl had a wall full of posted pictures and paper but it's gone now we can't make out what it was but I found something" she stood and turned to face the expectant eyes "there were pictures of Amy and Carly, whoever was in here not only wanted something from the house but wanted to erase connections and evidence" Jules spoke "Amy and Carly might be still in danger" she added with frustration.

"I will report this to the police, we can't do anything more" Greg said as he also felt frustrated "Winnie did you get anything on Jeff Trent?"

"Boss he left Vancouver on Saturday afternoon, in his office they just knew that he had a family emergency, his chief was very sadden by the news, he said Jeff spoke always very highly of his brother on how he turned his life around, he was his only family" Winnie finished

"Thank you Winnie" Greg answered "Spike we need to find Mr. Trent"

"Boss I thought you were going to leave this to the police" Spike asked puzzled, Greg just looked at him "Got it boss" what he meant is that even though they couldn't do more active work on this case, Jeff was a fellow police, he could be on a destructive path or he might be also a target of whoever was in Karl´s house, there was a certain quiet oath to protect their own.

After they left the place Greg called the police to inform about the situation, he recommended in getting Amy and Carly on a protection detail in the hospital. Even though they had been involved that responsibility did not correspond to Team 1 of SRU, but they couldn't stop thinking on how all this connected and how they wanted to see it through.

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><p>At the end of the shift Jules arrived to the hospital, she had volunteered to be the one taking Sam home, the team had agreed on taking turns as the first couple of days were recommendable not to leave him alone. She went into the room, he was sitting on the edge of the bed already wearing his clothes but bare foot, and he was on the phone.<p>

"…Yeah, I am fine, you can stay there and I´ll keep you posted" he said as he rubbed his forehead with his free hand as he touched his small cut over his eyebrow he flinched at the small pain that movement brought "sure mom, talk to you soon" he dropped the hand down as he hung up the call and sighed as a small cough came with the effort, Jules went closer as he got aware of her presence "hi!" was the only word he could say.

"Hello! I see that you are almost ready to leave" she sitting on the bed next to him "How do you feel?"

"Much better" he said, he raised his hands up to show her how they were still shaking "they don't want to stop" he stare at them and soon after he placed them on the bed once more.

"The doctor said it was normal and that soon you´ll be as good as new" she smiled and pushed him softly with her shoulders, he chuckled "Do you need some help?" she asked looking at his bare feet hanging from the bed, he looked down to and shook his head

"I managed with the jeans the t-shirt and sweater but, shoes? That's another story" he smiled

"No problems, I´ll help you but not a word to the team" she pointed jokingly

"I am sure I´d be more embarrassed by this than you would" he assured her. She went to look for the socks and shoes in the bag. She kneeled by his feet and started helping with the socks and shoes. "How did you sleep?" she asked to keep the conversation going and avoid the awkward silence

"Pretty well after our night stroll" he said smiling to her "It helped to move for a while" he added as he flinched at the movement, his body still ached, the doctor had said it was normal, like his shakiness, the chills, the tiredness, the short breath and the permanent headache, plus the soreness of all the bruises from the rope, for him it felt nothing but normal.

"What did your parents say?" she asked

"The general and my mom are in their annual vacation and he was not pleased about my timing, my mom was concerned but I spoke to her yesterday and today so she could continue enjoying her trip" he assured her.

"Wow, every time I look forward of never meeting your adorable father" she wanted to kick herself for such affirmation remembering that horrible statement of his mother asking to meet her, but she moved along "But it's good for them to continue their annual vacation" she said as she stated he was ready now.

"Thanks" he said to her as she stood up and started helping putting away all the personal items in his bag, the nurse came in with a big smile

"Sam I see that you were able to find some help" she said pointing at his shoes "I am sorry I had to leave after helping you with your clothes" Jules couldn't stop but cringing inside with that comment "I hope we don't see you around here too often" she said as she took off waving her hand and smiling.

"All by yourself, uh?" she asked mockingly

"Oh well I did most of the effort" he answered smiling she sat next to him again "Sam we had a call today to a house, it was Karl Trent´s house" he got his attention in a heartbeat and looked at her waiting for more information "someone broke inside, there was a female body it was his housekeeper and the house was a mess"

"Do we know why?" he asked

"Not really everything is quite burry" she added "The police have taken over a protection detail for Amy and Carly; we believe they might be a target or at least someone might be looking for them"

"That might explain why Karl was so desperate about making sure that Carly was going to be protected" he said frowning "are they ok?"

"Yeah, so far nothing but the police is keeping an eye on them, as well as they are looking for Karl´s brother"

"Jeff right?" he asked remembering their conversation last night "is he a suspect or a possible victim?"

"We don't know, the boss just want Spike to have his ears open, as we are not in the investigation" he nodded and they sat in silence for a few seconds

"If you are ready we can leave" she said "No wheelchair uh?"

"Nope" he shook his head smiling whimsically.

"How did you do that?" she asked placing her hand on her hips

"That's the way I roll" he said standing up as he stood the floor seemed to move, in his list of "normal" side effects were also the dizziness accompanied sometimes with nausea, he staggered a little as Jules stepped forward to help him straighten himself.

"Sure thing" she said mocking him, she stood next to him and only let go when he seemed to have found his balance once more, she let go as they started walking out, she grabbed the bag before he could and went ahead to open the door, as soon as he started walking he felt better and steady.

"I would like to make a pit stop if that's ok!" he told her "5th floor, pediatrics"

"Carly?" she asked

"Yeah, I just want to make sure she is ok" he said walking towards the elevator, she stared for a while, she knew Sam was a nice guy and was very well aware of his soft side and all but going to see someone that were involve in one of their cases was a little out of character "Don't look at me like that"

"How?"

"All weird out and shocked" he said as they waited for the elevator "I can't believe I am turning into the boss" he said as they stepped into the elevator. It was well known and even an internal sweet joke on how Greg would always try and follow up with the victim or subjects, even Ed had has his share of follow ups. Sam wanted to make sure the girl was ok mostly now after what Jules told him about Trent´s house.

They came out of the elevator and he walked to the room, Jules had stayed in the elevator as she would move forward with all the paperwork the sooner they could leave the hospital the better, they agreed to meet outside Carly´s room. He got to the room and saw the officer standing there, he identified himself with him and went inside, a small waiting area before getting to the room, and he knocked the door to the bedroom.

"Yes?" it was Amy wearing her sling and worried look.

"Hello, I am Sam Braddock I…"

"Sam Braddock?" she asked more to herself as she recalled the name, she turned and look at the man standing in front of her "sure" she changed her stance and relaxed a little bit more "I am sorry but with the police outside, I´ve been a little jumpy, you are the officer that found Carly" she added "Your boss was here a couple of times, he is nice" she added "I don't know why we are in the middle of all this but it's scary" he noticed she was lying, she was more nervous and jumpy.

"I just wanted to check up on Carly, know how she was doing" he said

"She is doing great, the doctor said she suffered from moderate hypothermia, she was pretty bad the first night but she started to improve very quickly" she said in a more honest and happy tone as she turned her sight into the room "The doctor said kids make full recovery faster than any adult and that in a couple of weeks she'll be as good as new" she smiled "she is very tough and she has been already keeping up with me"

"That's great" he said "Where do you plan to go?"

"We will go to a good friend's house; he wants us to stay there while we find somewhere to live" she said calmly "and as soon as we are clear from the police protection detail"

"Yeah, that must be really stressing for you and Carly" he said already trying to reach to her "Do you really don't know who might be involved in all this or why they might be after you and Carly?" he asked casually as she tensed at the question and just shook her head negatively

"You can come in if you want, we are getting ready to leave and I am sure Carly will be pleased, she asked about the police officer that helped her" she said opening the door, he stepped inside the room full of drawings "Carly I have a surprise visitor"

"Karl?" she asked with hopeful eyes, Amy couldn't help but cringe and not knowing how to explain it to her again

"Carly? It's Sam, do you remember me?" he stepped into the room with a big smile and waving his hand

"Sam!" she said excitedly

"Can you stay with her for a while?" she asked "I have to finish the paperwork and I would like to do it without leaving her alone" She said as he hesitated for half a second.

"Sure I can keep her company" he turned to see the little girl who looked at him with her big blue eyes.

"Thanks" she took her bag and went outside but not without kissing Carly on her forehead.

"So, can I see what you have there?" he asked to the little girl as he came closer to her side, she had some color pencils and paper.

"Yes" she grabbed one and pulled it in front of him "This is my mom, this is me and this is Karl" she said with sadness.

"You liked him right?" he asked her

"Yes, he was fun and made me laugh" she said with a big smile.

"He did uh?"

"My mom told me Karl is happy now"

"He is"

"Wasn't he happy with us?" she asked and stared at Sam waiting for an answer and Sam wanted so much to give her the right one.

"He was, in fact he gave a message for you"

"He did?" her eyes lighted

"He told me that he loved you very much and that he was the happier when he was with you" he assured her, she smiled. He knew that first rule is not to lie but even now he was certain Karl loved her very much and if he could he had sent her the message, somehow by asking him to take care of her before letting go his hand was proof of that love.

"I was happy too" she added "Do I have to come back to his house again"

"Karl´s?"

"No the other man" she corrected him while coloring her drawing

"What other man?" he asked but was distracted by a noise outside, it sounded like a woman and a man arguing, he moved slowly to the door and opened it just a bit to try and see what was going on, he saw and heard Amy sobbing and a man standing in front of her with a menacing stance, he closed the door silently and went to the bed looking in his pocket his phone, he had left it in his bag as he only took his badge to identify himself with the police in the door, _**Where is the police officer? **_He asked himself, he stood next to Carly "Carly sweetheart we will play a fun game" he said as he pulled her from her bed and carried her to the closet, he opened the door and placed her there "You are going to be very quiet, very quiet"

"Just like when Karl got to our place?" she innocently asked

"Yes, but this time you´ll stay here and you won't move, just keep quiet and hide, even if they call you won't answer unless it's me ok!" she nodded, he closed the door and went to use the phone from the room.

"This is Sam Braddock from the Strategic Response Unit" he whispered looking at the door "I am in room 513, I need you to call the SRU headquarters and ask for Sergeant Greg Parker and tell him that there is a possible hostile situation" he told the operator, he wanted to get a hold on Jules too, she could come in at any moment and he didn't know how this could escalate "Do not alert anyone but start evacuating the floor as much as possible, asked for people not to leave their rooms, there is supposed to be an officer assigned to this room try to find him, his name was" he tried very hard to remember the name on the uniform "Officer Samson" he said as he remembered "alert the security guards but ask them not to intervene or come any closer to the room" he whispered even softer as the situation got heated outside "Find constable Julianna Callaghan she is here in the hospital" the operator took note of everything as he hung up. He stood there as adrenaline filled his blood and his heart pounded hard, he took a breath and went closer to the door, he opened it and saw that Amy was shaking now and the man was way too close.

"…Amy I have no time for you to do this, he wants you and Carly back"

"I don't want to go back, I want our lives back, please John you know how it was"

"Amy I will take you and Carly even if I have to drag you out" Sam knew he was escalating and for some reason he was being considerate with her therefore she knew him, he took another breath and thought that it was better to try and deescalate the situation by making contact, he scanned the man and he didn't seem to be armed, he suddenly opened the door.

"Amy I just finished putting all Carly´s things in her bag, The nurse told me she will be back like in half an hour with Carly" he thought about never lying but this time he must keep the man away from the girl, he looked up "Hello?"

"Who is he?" the man asked her taking two steps back from her

"How rude of mine" he said standing closer to Amy looking for her to be behind him "I am Officer Sam Braddock" he never used the officer status but he had to make a point "and you are?"

"John, an old friend of Amy"

"Nice to meet you" he said contemplating his options

"I came to pick Amy and Carly up" the man added

"Really, she is been naughty then because that's why I am here, I think she might have double booked us" he said smiling "You don't worry they still have to go to the police so I can take care of their transportation" he said calmly

"I don't think so Sam" he said with emphasis on his name

"Look man, John? Is it?" he acted loosely "we have it covered I am sure she will call you for you to visit her"

"Yes, John I´ll call you as soon as I am settle down" she said shakily, the man seemed more upset now, as he was about to leave the officer opened the door and went in, the man saw the advantage and grabbed the officer and pulled his gun out as he knocked him on the head, Sam moved to place himself between Amy and the now subject.

"John, put that gun down, you don't want to do this, not today" he couldn't believe that in less than 3 days he´d been in in front of the barrel of a gun way too many times.


	9. Chapter 9

Hello to all the readers and reviewers I couldn't thank you enough for your comments! So thank you again and I hope you can keep enjoying this fiction as much as I am enjoying it.

My job has been very hectic and I've had very few days off that's why I haven't been able to upload this of course is not an excuse :D

I know that Sam was JTF2 and his specialty is being a sniper and all, but I thought JTF2 also were good in combat hand to hand right? they are specialized in many fields, so I have always asked myself why they don't portray that specific skill in the show so I threw a small hand to hand action here.

Well there goes chapter 9 hope you like it.

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><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

John was stern and remained stoic with his gun pointing at a now concentrated and determined Sam. Amy was standing behind him and she placed her hand on his shoulder, he could feel how she was shaking, he wished he could end this without anyone getting hurt but looking at John he noticed that it wasn't an act of random desperation but someone who was used to holding a hand gun, he turned to see the officer laying down unconscious on the floor.

"You see Sam I can't put it down and I really don't want to use it but I have a job to do" the man added.

"What is that job John?" Sam asked calmly "If you tell me maybe I can help you, just put the gun down"

"I don't think you could help me" John said.

"You might be surprised, what I want is for all of us to get out of this unharmed, you know this can't end up well if you keep waving a gun to in front of people" Sam told the man, he knew that the team was on his way here but there was the lingering feeling that John didn't want to be talked down of what he was supposed to do.

"Amy" the man said menacingly "Come over here" she tighten her grip on Sam's shoulder and he kept his arm raised keeping her behind him, he needed to make himself John's point of focus and keep it away from Amy.

"She is not going John, she doesn't want to go, not like this" Sam told the man who was growing more and more impatient "You have a job to do, but I also have a job to do and I can't let you take her against her will" he added sternly, John pressed tighter the gun and raised it, Amy cried a little as she hid behind Sam. This was not going to deescalate John was on a mission and it was to take Amy and Carly with him.

"Amy I won't ask again, you know that" John said raising his voice, he tried to seem more desperate in order to make Sam nervous too but the man wouldn't change his determined look and his protective stance.

"John, I want to understand what's going on"

"No Sam, I am sure you don't want to understand, you don't even want to be involved in this" John added with certain bitterness in his voice like expressing his own regrets

"I can see you don't really want to do this, put the gun down and save yourself the trouble" Sam added, John seemed to be considering or at least thinking, but even when he lowered the gun he held it tightly and still menacingly.

"The thing is Sam that I can't leave without her and the girl and I will do it even if I have to go through you" John said raising his arm and pointing the gun to Sam. John had not killed him yet but he will, Sam thought of his options and they didn't seem many, suddenly John stood still like realizing something, it was quiet not usual in a hospital; he opened the door to take a peek, he was obviously aware that some alarm might have been activated because there were anyone in the aisle by now "You called the cops?" he asked Sam angrily.

"You shouldn't worry about that but if you do just lower your gun and we all walk out from here" Sam said.

For a moment John assessed his options and Sam saw that in his eyes, he took a step forward carefully leaving Amy where she stood, John turned again to the door and Sam took 2 steps closer to the man, he saw the opportunity he was distracted and lowered the gun, Sam reached for John's hand and before he could react Sam extended his hand to grab the gun and spun on his right foot and stroked John on the neck with his left elbow, John staggered and Sam stripped him from the gun that flew under a chair, Amy dropped to the floor looking for cover and Sam grabbed John's arm and turned behind him as his right arm went to grab the man's neck to control John who reacted violently after the shock of being surprised, for a moment they struggled but even with all the training and adrenaline pumping Sam struggled more to get a hold of the 6' tall built man, once John saw his window he punched Sam in his gut with his elbow and the pain that was unleashed to his already bruised abdomen and lungs sent him down to the floor, John grabbed his neck and tried to steady his breathing as black spots danced in front of his eyesight once he did he turned to see Sam kneeling on the floor trying to breathe and stand, he turned to look for Amy but he knew he had no time now so he ran away from the room.

Sam was able to regain his bearings as he struggled to stand up straight he walked to Amy.

"Are you ok?" he asked coming a little bit stronger that what he really wanted "Amy?"

"Yeah…Yes I am fine" she was able to answer.

"Stay in the room lock the door and check on Carly, she is in the closet" Sam told her as he helped her stand, she was still shaking "Everything is ok now just go inside and do not open for anyone if it's not me" he told her and saw her get into the room, he stood there for a second regaining his steadiness as the floor seemed to wave under his feet, he went to see the police officer down to check his pulse, it was steady, he opened the door carefully to make sure John or anyone else was there, as he opened the door he saw Wordy turning around followed by Ed, he signaled them that it was clear to come closer

"Sam, are you ok?" Ed asked as he placed his hand on the pale man's shoulder, he was breathing heavily and he just nodded before answering he was fine.

"The subject was here he took off about 3 or 5 minutes he might still be in the hospital" he said between gasps "I don't think his armed"

"You think?" the usual tactical Ed asked, in this team the maybes where their enemies, Sam shook his head as he closed his eyes.

"I am sure" he said "he took the officer's gun and I took it away from him, it fell on the floor, out of reach" he assured "He is 6' tall, built, brown hair and blue eyes, Caucasian, he was wearing…ummm" he struggled to remember now, why was he struggling he was good with details, maybe because it was too hard to breathe now as he placed his arm around his ribs.

"Sam?" Wordy asked with concern

"..He is wearing a blue jacket with jeans and a sky blue bottoms up shirt" he assured the two men "he ran over there" he pointed to the right.

"Did you get that Spike?" Ed asked in his comm link, Spike answered affirmatively and told him how Greg, Leah and Jules were informed "Spike we need you to send two uniforms to guard the hospital room"

"Amy and Carly are inside" Sam added he was feeling the adrenaline disappear and as he fought to stay standing straight he staggered a little and found the wall as great support, Ed extended his arm to help him as well and Wordy also stepped closer.

"Let's take you to a chair" Ed said as they both helped the young man walk to some chairs that stood a few feet away from the door "Wordy stay with him" Ed ordered as he called the other team members to join into the search.

"I need to go check up on Amy and Carly" Sam said

"No you stay here until a doctor comes in and checks you up" Ed said as he saw the defiant look on Sam's eyes "don't make me give you an order, the uniforms will come in and Wordy will check up on them" Ed finished and gave a nod to Wordy.

Sam sat there and placed his head between his arms as he tried to relax, his world was spinning now and he felt the goose bumps all over his body, he sat back and had to fight the nausea caused by the now throbbing headache.

"I´ll go and check up on Amy and Carly" Wordy said to calm Sam´s need to check up on the two. Sam remembered what he asked from Amy, not to open the door to anyone.

"Tell her I sent you…I asked her not to open the door…" Sam said while everything just started to spin around, Wordy saw it and came back to where he was sitting.

"I'll bring you some water first" Wordy said as he walked to the nearest water fountain. Sam just slumped back and closed his eyes, it was in that moment that Amy walked away from the room alone, sneaking out, as she turned around the corner the two uniforms turned around from the other side, they saw Wordy as he came closer to Sam and reported to him.

"Sir" one of the officers said "we were sent here for a security detail"

"Yes, let's go inside the room and check up on the two occupants a woman and a girl" Wordy told the officers and started walking towards the room

"Wordy" Sam mustered tiredly "She won't open the door, not if it's not me" Wordy thought that it was normal for them to build trust with the victims by assuring them that they will be protected. After that statement Sam stood slowly and started to walk towards the room with Wordy.

"Ed will kick your ass", Wordy said half serious half joking.

"Oh! Well let's see if I can make it in one piece for him to do so" he added with a frown in his face.

They went into the room the door that took them to the bedroom was closed, Sam knocked the door and no answer was heard, he tried the door knob and it was open, he alerted Wordy, who pushed Sam slightly to the side and went on full alert mode. He went in slowly, the bedroom was dimmed lighted, he scanned the room with the officers help and it was clear, Sam went in as soon as they cleared it, turned on the light, the room was empty and his heart was pounding harder, there is no way they could leave without they knowing, without him knowing, he thought Amy might have hidden in the closet too, he walked quickly to the closet and called Carly's name.

"Carly sweetheart?" he opened it and as soon as he did two big blue eyes stared at him, she was still sitting there waiting for him. He smiled at her and extended his arms to reach her "Hi" he said tenderly

"Hi" she said shyly "Where is my mom?" she asked and as he was able to pull her out and carry her further from the closet, he had the same question she was asking _**Where is Amy?**_

"Boss" Wordy used his comm, "We have a situation"

"What is it Wordy?" Greg asked

"Amy Wakefield is MIA, she is not in her room, and we only found Carly" he turned around to see the girl clutching Sam's neck tightly as he tried to rock her.

"Team" Greg's voice resounded over the comm link "Amy Wakefield is also on the run, keep an eye on every exit" Greg said frustration creeping in him, this case couldn't be more bizarre "Spike, please try to locate Mrs. Wakefield cellphone signal" Wordy heard that and immediately as he was looking down he saw something under the bed, it was a cell phone, he lifted it.

"Boss, it won't work, Amy's phone is in the room, we can use it to track her calls but it won't tell us where she went"

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><p>After searching the whole hospital there were no signs of John or Amy. Spike had run the video from the security camera but came with nothing to help them identify this man, he had been very careful, and he was somewhat a pro in hiding himself from the cameras. Soon the whole team was in Carly's room. Jules went in and headed to the bedroom where she found Carly still hugging Sam who was now sitting on the bed combing the girls hair with his hand, she gave him a nod and he answered it by nodding and giving her a small smile, she turned around to face the whole team; Spike was using his computer as he sat on one chair in the waiting room.<p>

"This man knew how to move inside the hospital and avoid the cameras" he assured them once more.

"Maybe he is an employee?" Ed asked to the team

"Or he scanned and study the hospital before coming in" Jules added

"If that is either the case someone must be able to recognize him or he wasn't always that careful, no one ever is" Greg said.

"Maybe if I can calculate his height and complexion I could run a body recognition scan from previous footage from the security camera and let the recognition program try to find all the matches" Spike said without even looking at the team who was now staring at him, he felt the silence and turned to see them all in awe "What? You know I am a genius right?" he said smiling and into his computer

"Sam said he acted calmly and how he unarmed the uniform seemed professional but not military or police force, probably private". Wordy added to the conversation

"Hired gun" Leah said "He might be doing somebody's dirty work"

"Most certainly, he also told Sam he was doing his job and addressed Amy with certain familiarity like it wasn't the first day they´ve met"

"You know that Sam is now a witness too? And this guy has seen him" Ed told Greg "this thing seems way too complicated to be just a love quarrel" he added with obvious frustration.

"I know" Greg said "We will handle this very privately and as a kidnapping, even though Amy seems to have left the room under no distress we have to assume that she was obligated to leave the room like that and considering that minutes before she ran someone wanted to take her against her will" he informed his team.

"What is it with this girl?" Ed asked mostly to himself

"I got a hit on the mystery man here" Spike called up the team "He was recorded in the hospital yesterday, the face still very blurry but I was able to crosscheck with our data base and I got a hit, meet John Reily AKA Carlton Smith, AKA Simon Wellis and the list goes on, he even has some files I cannot even access, he has more alias than a CIA agent" Spike added his usual lighthearted comment "He is in fact a private sector worker and he works pretty hard or at least he did until almost 5 years ago when he went completely off the grid"

"Retired?" Leah asked

"More like exclusively hired" Spike interrupted "This picture was taken outside of a bar almost 2 years ago" he opened the picture and there it was the man from today next to another man,

"Reid McCallum?" Ed asked rhetorically and with surprise.

"What? Who is he?" Leah asked after looking at everybody's body language, she understood it was no good.

"He is one of the youngest, most powerful drug lords from the country" Spike said "not forgetting one of the cruelest too"

"Nothing and no one has been able to stop him from running from marihuana to most sophisticated drugs throughout the country" Jules reinforced "He is a ghost, it has been impossible to even know where he lives, this must be one of the couple pictures taken of him"

"This is not good" Ed added "What does Amy and her little girl have to do with McCallum?"

"If they are even involved at all" Greg said "What we know is that this John wanted to take her but there is no proof that it has to do with McCallum, it might be personal"

"Maybe" Jules added "I mean we could run a deeper search to know if they are related, Karl dated her for almost a year before he lost it and started acting strangely this might have been triggered by Amy having a relationship with this man" she added

"What does this girl have that made a normal guy and a hired gun wants to take her with them?" Greg asked, as the team looked at him "You know what I mean, this case has too many coincidences and as of now it has become a case for the SRU"

"Boss, Winnie tells me that agent Jeff Trent in the headquarters" Spike interrupted

"Karl's brother?" he asked

"Yes, he got there and is asking to talk to you"

"Tell her we are on our way" Greg said as they welcomed the social worker to the room "We will leave Carly with social services and with a protection detail, no one is to know where the safe house is but me, we are making sure this girl is safe"

"I'll take her to Carly and Sam" Jules said as she directed the social worker "Sam? Its time" she told her team mate, Carly was now sitting in front on the bed coloring something.

"Can I have a minute?" he asked the social worker

"Sure" the woman replied

"Carly?" she didn't answered and continued coloring "Carly? Remember what I told you?" she just nodded affirmatively but never made eye contact "Carly I want you to look at me" she raised her glance and saw a smiling Sam "There you go"

"I know I will leave with this lady" she said

"You have to go with her"

"Why can't I stay with you?" she asked

"Because she is more prepared to take care of you" he said. The girl turned around to see the lady who looked like pulled from a Mary Poppins movie

"She looks weird" she said frowning her nose "and smells" he smiled

"Well she is one of the best in taking care of little girls like you" Sam said "She is super fun and she likes coloring too" he looked at the lady and she nodded to the girl who was now staring at her

"I guess" Carly added "I know I have to go with her" she said as she picked her things up "Is my mommy gone as Karl is?" the question was normal but coming from a 6 year old it was heart wrenching so young and so used to being left by loved ones.

"I don't know Carly, but you see all those people wearing black, like this lady here" he pointed at Jules and the SRU team, the girl nodded "Well they are the best in finding people and they will do whatever it takes to find her so she can be with you again"

"They will find her like you found me" she stated with a smile and the social worker stepped in to take Carly, she left the room and waved goodbye, she got away from the lady and ran to Sam who kneeled down to face her "Thank you!" she kissed him in the cheek and left. There was so much in Carly that reminded him of his sister, she was the same age when she was hit by that car. The girl left and Sam stood as he sat on the bed again, he rubbed his fingers on his eyes to try and clear his head, the headache was still there and he just wanted to go home and curled into a ball and sleep for days.

"Are you ok?" Jules asked standing in front of him, he nodded at her "she will be ok Sam"

"She won't, not until her mother is back" he added bitterly. The rest of the team went in and gathered around as the uniform inside went outside.

"Sam, are you ok? Greg asked and again he just nodded "ok" he said not believing one bit of it. "We have to go back to headquarter, tell Jules everything you saw, get a doctor to check you up and then she'll take you directly to your house"

"No way, I'll go with you to HQ I'll debrief there and that way it will be faster" Sam said sternly

"Sam this is not a request, this is an order" Greg answered

"There is a young woman out there and I might have information that could help her that I don't even know, if I go to the doctor and home I might forget something important, I'll go to the HQ, debrief while's still fresh in my mind and then I promise I will go home" he said with a straight face.

"Ok" Greg added "But get a doctor to check you up I don't want you fainting on the floor" he said to encourage his already tired team member, he knew Sam worked like that, pushed to do what he had to do by himself and others.

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><p>The way he was entering the office was of a defeated soldier, he looked disheveled and gasping, he tuck his shirt a little as he knocked and opened the door in front of him.<p>

"So? Do you have them?"

"No Mr. McCallum"

"And why is that if I may know?" the man was sitting on a big sofa looking at the floor to ceiling wall into a city view, he was wearing a beige pair of pants and white shirt and holding a glass of some expensive liquor "Because when I hired you and pay you an obscenely amount of money to do what I want you to do I expect results"

"Mr. McCallum I…"

"Stop there John" he emphasized in the name "think of your answer there, because in the past couple of months you were able to: Not handle a crazy man, not finding a woman and a little 6 year old, not bring them back and somehow get the police involved into this, so tell me John" McCallum sipped from his drink and smirked, oh how John hated that smirk in that's man face.

"There was a problem" Reid snapped and threw his glass to the floor as he pulled his gun and went to grab John's collar and pointed the gun to his right temple

"A problem? You know what's my only problem? to believe that you are able to handle a simple request that is my problem"

"There was an unexpected visitor when I went to bring her and the girl" the man remained calmed as always, he could easily snap Reid's neck but he was certain of something he paid him too well to kill his employer. Reid took two steps back and placed the gun on the table, he turned around to face John again and stood with his hands in his pocket and looked at John expecting him to continue "There was a cop inside the room, not any cop, this guy might have been military" he said remembering how he was able to disarm him and even swing at him "I will guess he is from the SRU team that helped her and the girl"

"Now they make follow up? I want you to find everything there is to know about this cop and his team, I want to know everything about these people specially the good samaritan that helped our little escapees" Reid said going for the bar to pour himself a drink "I want Amy and Carly here" he sipped "I don't care if we have to go over the whole police force"

"Yes sir" John said

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><p>Leave your review!<p> 


	10. Chapter 10

Today CTV will air Flashpoint!

Hope you like what you find in here today and feel free to leave your reviews

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><p><strong>Chapter 10<strong>

The team went into HQ in silence; Sam was walking behind the team with Spike and Wordy by his side. Greg stepped forward to the reception with Ed closer behind the latter signaled the team to hit the locker rooms, they had to deal with Detective Trent first before debriefing Sam that would give them time to have an on call doctor who was waiting already to check him up, someone would say that it was faster to have a doctor from the hospital to do so but as Sam was so stubborn about going to HQ and they had to talk with Detective Trent this seemed like a win/win situation.

"Winnie?" Greg asked the operator

"He is in the debriefing room" she said as she went back to the phone. Both SRU members walked towards the room as they went in they saw the detective standing there looking out the window.

"Detective?" Greg asked, the man turned around and saw the sergeant and Team Leader, he walked quickly closer to them "I am sorry for the delay detective but we were in a pressing matter"

"I know and I am sorry I just came here without an invitation" he said

"No need for an invitation actually we are very happy to see you are here and we are very sorry for your loss" Greg added while Jeff was surprised by the honesty in Greg's words "I am Sergeant Greg Parker and this is Ed Lane our operator told us you are here looking for me?" Jeff was thrown back by the bluntness too, he relaxed a little

"Yes, actually I was looking forward to do so" he added "I came here as soon as I found out that you answered the call when my brother" he stopped as it was difficult for him to say it "The thing is that I hadn't seen my brother in a while and coming to the city to recognize his body was a bit of a shock"

"I get it" Greg said as he walked in to get Jeff to sit, Ed sat silently as he wanted to know where all this thing was going "I still don't get what you want to talk to us"

"I wanted to know if as a courtesy I could check the report, to get a glimpse on what was my brother's last words…I know you might not understand but…"

"Jeff, can I call you Jeff?" Greg asked

"Sure"

"Jeff I would like to do that but SRU reports are not available to be reviewed not without a special clearance" Greg said not wanting to give too much information on the new development that somehow involved this man's brother "What I can tell you is that my team did whatever was possible to help your brother, unfortunately his state of mind was troubled" Jeff knew he was getting as far as he could get with this "in another matter and this is concerning your brother as well, we would like to have your cooperation?" the man nodded as Greg asked him to sit, the three men sat "have you been recently to his house?" Greg asked

"Yeah" he didn't want to lie on this one, there was a reason he was asking "I went there after I went to the morgue, to pick up some things for the funeral home"

"Did you notice anything strange?" Ed asked

"No, I mean the house was pristine but that was Karl" Jeff said

"Is there was anything out of place?"

"No, I just went into his clean clothes in the guest room, that's where he always kept his nice suits" Jeff added "Why are you asking? Does it have anything to do with his behavior that day?"

"We still don't know" Greg added

"One more question" Ed asked "Do you carry your gun?"

"Always"

"Can I see it" even as strange as the request seemed Jeff complied, he handed his gun to Ed, he just saw it.

"Thanks" he said

"I am sorry I ask but I am confused why are you asking all these things?"

"We answered a call to your brother's house today" Ed said "There was a mess all over and a dead body" Jeff was honestly surprised "We believe that your brother might have been involved indirectly with very dangerous people" Greg said "The woman found dead was Theresa Johnson his housekeeper" Jeff was honestly shocked to hear that, he had been in that house a couple of hours before.

"I thought that is was just a quarrel with his girlfriend, Amy?" Jeff added and the two SRU members were surprised "I mean the official police report said it her and Carly he was after that morning, I wouldn't place my brother being acquainted with anyone that dangerous"

"Jeff, I know you want answers about your brother's demise, but this is now an SRU investigation we would really appreciate for you to let us know what you know about Amy and your brother"

"Not much really" Jeff stated "I mean I knew he was really excited, he met her after I left to Vancouver so I never saw her personally, Karl talked about her and also about Carly, he loved that little girl, he sent me pictures of them three, he seemed happy" he said with sorrow "He even told me about marrying her and going to Vancouver so I could live closer to his future family; he said once Amy had suffered a lot and he wanted her to be really happy and to start a new life"

"Did you ever speak about Amy's past?" Greg asked

"No, he only kept saying that she had it bad" Jeff added

"Do you remember anything else about what he told you?" Greg asked

"I remember him telling me once, I think it slipped from him, but he said that it was her ex that made her life pretty bad, but he didn't say who he was" Jeff asked "Do you know where Amy and Carly are?" he asked "They meant so much for Karl and no matter how bad things got at the end I am sure they would like to be at the funeral"

"I am sorry Jeff but currently that will be impossible, they are both part of an ongoing investigation" Ed told the detective

"Could you at least give this to Carly?" he pulled a bag from under the table that made the two officers almost jump, he pulled out a stuffed elephant "Karl said once he took her to the zoo, she loved the elephants" he handed the elephant to them

"I will make sure she gets it" Greg said grabbing the elephant. The three men went outside into the reception area, they stood there as Greg was about to tell him something

"Boss, Sam is waiting, the doctor is done with him" Spike said to the boss

"Thanks Spike, Ed why don't you go ahead"

"Is that the man who tried to save my brother?" Greg looked at him with certain protectiveness "I am sorry I have been asking around"

"Detective, I am not the one to tell you how to mourn your loss but I am sure that I don't want anybody asking the wrong questions in regards of this case, I need you to go to your hotel room, I don't have to remind you that you have no jurisdiction in Toronto and that we will handle the investigation in concern of this case, make sure you have your phone at any time if we need you" Jeff sighed and stood tall after Greg's request. Greg saw in that moment a glimpse of the real Jeff Trent "Now if you excuse me I have to go see some things" Jeff turned around and went to the door. Greg turned around and as he did he gave the elephant to Winnie and gave her some instructions. As Jeff was going out he saw a woman coming in with a file in her hand, it clearly had Carly's name in the file and she screamed of Social Worker, he continued and smirked on his way out.

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><p>"The doctor has left" Wordy told Greg as they stood outside the locker room, Sam was sitting on a bench hunched down looking at the floor "He said he got a bad hit to his ribs by the subject and that he shouldn't be around doing hero stuff" Wordy used the quotation marks and all "I really hated that doctor, he reminded him that if he felt too weird to go to the hospital immediately" he confirmed "He gave Jules all the information and now he is ready to go"<p>

"Sam?" Greg called his name and he reacted turning to face him

"It was Karl's brother?"

"Yes, detective Trent" Ed added

"What did he want?" Sam asked

"He wanted answers as we all do" Greg assured him "Look Sam you need to go home, rest and take these days off, I promise I'll keep you posted" Sam sighed he knew better than to fight the all nice Greg Parker even though he was willing to be there until the end, to see this through. "Be careful and I will call on a protection detail to stay outside your apartment building just in case" Sam was too tired to fight him off

"Boss I gave Spike all the information he is with Leah waiting for you" Jules said stepping into the man's locker room like it was hers.

"Good now you can take Sam home and make sure he stays home" Greg said in a very fatherly way "Take care, buddy and don't come back until you have clearance from the doctor" he finished

"See you man, take care of yourself" Ed said with a smile on his face

"I'll go tomorrow and get you some of Shelly's chicken soup" Wordy said as he patted Sam's back, the three men left leaving Sam and Jules alone.

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><p>"Greg, before we go in" Ed stopped Greg "What did you think of Trent?"<p>

"Too cooperative to be a homicide detective, he didn't even asked about the housekeeper murder, his head was somewhere else" Greg said "I don't trust or believe he doesn't know anything, he knows something, I asked the police to tail him just to make sure he is the innocent bystander he claims he is"

"It must be hard though" Ed said as Greg turned to see him to get the explanation "Losing your family, I would want to know why my brother is lying on a morgue too" Ed said having a brother in the police force and regardless of the animosity between them.

"We would all want that" Greg said "But there was something in this guy, he was way too helpful almost as if he wanted to tell us what he knew, he knows we can disclose our reports, why bother?" Ed couldn't deny that it was very true

"He was in deed more interested in Amy and Carly" Ed added as they walked "I mean, yes, she was with his brother but like three months ago and she totally ruined his brother's life if we put it into perspective, why would he want to share this private moment with them?" Ed emphasized

"Maybe he wants revenge or an explanation why Amy left Karl so suddenly?" Wordy added to the conversation

"Let's go and find out about this case because is giving me a headache" Ed said as they went into the control room.

"I asked Winnie to contact narcotics at the RCMP, as much as we want to follow up with this case, we cant do it we need to involve whoever is working on the McCallum investigation without sounding too many alarms and in case this thing goes deeper and he is indeed involved" Greg said

"I know" Ed sighed "If that man is involved this could get really ugly and very fast" he added

"That is what worried me the most, we have to cover all our basis, but our responsibility dies when there is no crisis to solve, right now we will cooperate in the investigation…that's it" Greg added with frustration knowingly that one of their own was involved.

"Understood" Ed added with the same frustration. As SRU they were trained for any critical situation, they were the best and fastest responders in emergency situations. They didn't like to have their hands tight and in this case they were.

* * *

><p>"Hey!" she said tenderly as she brushed some of Sam's hair, he reacted by looking up to her and giving her a smile "You feel a little warm"<p>

"The doctor said I had a little fever, he gave me something" Sam told a concerned Jules

"I have to take you home" Jules pressed

"I know, I just need a minute" he answered her

"Sam is not your fault" Jules stated

"How is not my fault?" he asked her "I went for an armed man without back up in a room with two innocents, I left the man take me down, I let him run away and now he is out there still looking for Amy and Carly" he coughed and his chest went on fire, he slumped a little, he hated to be this sick, he took a deep breath and continued "then I sat there in the aisle a few steps from the door and I didn't see her leave the hospital room" he finished almost gasping for air, he was noticeably altered now "not even a rookie would make so many mistakes in less than 15 minutes" he said slumping on the bench, Jules sat next to him

"You were able to contain a very difficult situation, you placed Carly in a safe place and made sure everyone in the hospital was aware and ready so they didn't get hurt, you placed yourself in front of a gun, again, to protect someone you barely know, tried everything to deescalate the subject and when you saw the opportunity you acted" Jules told him "You did everything that you were supposed to do, what anybody in your position would do"

"So why do I feel this bad?" Sam asked her now almost pleading "If I did everything as I was supposed to, why is a little girl in Social services custody and not with her mother, why is a man dead when all he wanted was to protect the people he loved" he asked looking at Jules, his eyes as piercing as they always were.

"I don't know" Jules said honestly "Most of the times we'll do everything right and still get it all wrong, you know that"

"I guess" He said turning to see upfront. He felt the headache coming back and his chest felt like it was on fire, his body ached even worse than when he woke up on the hospital bed and his stomach was just having an internal hockey match, he took a deep breath as he tried to breathe through the pain.

"We better go now" Jules said

"Sure, just give me a couple of minutes" Sam asked from her, she stood and extended her hand for him to take, he looked at her, he loved looking at her, he grabbed her hand and stood as soon as he did he felt the world spinning and almost went back to the bench, but he was able to steady himself

"You have to leave the beers pal" she said as a joke and he chuckle "Come on" she said, as the first step was taken he felt the rabid hockey game become more like a revolution and the soldiers were coming out with full force, he stopped and hunched a little as he turned and almost sprinted to the stalls, he went directly to the toilet and gaged until the full force of his stomach contents were expelled, his throat burned and the sensation also made him go into a coughing fit, Jules took a bottle of water from the water station outside and ran into the bathroom stalls.

He pulled the water from the toilet as he slumped on the floor still gasping for air, shaking and still coughing his lungs out, Jules came in and wet a towel with water from the faucet and kneeled next to the beaten up Sam who was now sitting next to the toilet and trying to breath, pain was drawn all over his face's lines, he was sweating and he could feel the cold sweat going down his now warmer forehead. Jules tenderly placed the towel on his forehead and raised his hand so he could keep the towel in place as she opened the bottle of water, she asked him with her eyes as she lifted the bottle to know if he wanted it or if she could help him hold the bottle, usual Sam raised his other hand and took the bottle that shook all the way to his mouth, he drank the water and made him feel better.

"Do you want me to take you to the hospital?" She asked, he said no with his head, bad idea as he angered his headache "I trust you'll tell me if this is too much"

"I just want to go home" he said with hoarse and tired voice "Let's just wait a minute so the world stops spinning"

"You are such a baby" she said mockingly as she took over the towel over his forehead "Just because of this whole mess I will have to feed you with my special grilled cheese sandwich"

"I don't think I will be able to handle all that Monterrey Jack cheese in your sandwiches" he said trying to go along with the playful banter as it took him away from the most pressing issue, that he was embarrassedly sitting next to a toilet after throwing up his guts, sporting a wet towel while Jules, his Jules was tending his wounded ego.

"Don't worry I'll make a special one with cheese for the softies, I would never go hardcore with you" She chuckle "Ready?" he nodded, as soon as she helped him up, they stood there for a while and shared a small moment there, he thought it was the worst time to feel anything romantic but this has been the closest Jules has been since she started dating Steve.

During the whole drive to Sam's apartment he was just focused on the road and Jules would talk just a little to keep him focused on the conversation and not the rocking movement of the SUV. As soon as they went into the elevator, Sam just rested on the wall, sighed and looked up, Jules couldn't stop but thinking that a couple of days before she was sitting on an ambulance by his limp body, he looked terrible but at least looked pretty much alive and she would take that over anything else. They came out of the elevator and he gave her his keys as his shaking hands were more subtle but they could spend the whole night outside if he was to open the door. She opened the door and let him go first inside as he turned the lights on, his apartment as always was organized and very few things adorning it, he walked directly to the couch and laid there as he threw his hands on his face and rubbed it. Jules closed the door and left his bag on the floor next to the entrance

"Thanks" he said tiredly as he turned to see her

"I will mix something and I'll keep you company for a while" she said

"It's not necessary really, I am good"

"Sure" she said looking a little disappointed and starting to turn around to the door, he saw it and wanted to kick himself

"But I guess something to eat wouldn't be entirely a bad thing" she smiled and took her jacket off as she went to the kitchen and started looking for something to cook

"You have very few things here" Jules said inspecting the almost empty fridge

"Take out" Sam said apologetically

"True Sam Braddock doesn't cook" she said

"No, Sam Braddock prefers to eat from every nice take out places from the city than cook" he added.

"I think I get something edible with some of your limited ingredients"

As she cooked something in the kitchen they kept a casual conversation and after a few minutes she just concentrated on the task at hand, as she served the food on the plate

"I hope you are ready for this exquisite casserole made with everything in your fridge, everything that had not expire that is" she said happily, she didn't get an answer so she turned to see the resting body of Sam on the couch, still sitting but leaning a little to the right, he was sleeping.

"Great" she said as she took a fork and ate some of the food from the plate, she tasted it and it was actually good, she walked to the couch and check up on his breathing, strong and relaxed, as any sleeping person but still a little forced, she took her hand to his forehead he still was a little warm but he had taken the meds, she couldn't help but brush his hair with her fingers, he didn't even flinched. Jules went to bring some blankets and as she took his shoes she thought on how much she wasn't bothered that in one day she had put on and taken off his shoes and gave herself a little chuckle, she then stood and caressed his face trying to wake him, to make him lay down on the couch, he didn't even open his eyes and just mumbled something as she helped him pull his legs up and just accommodated himself on the couch, she placed some blankets and sat on a sofa, took the plate and ate as she kept a vigilant eye on Sam.

* * *

><p>Thank you!<p> 


End file.
